Chasing after Clouds
by zulka
Summary: AU Yuriy's destiny is to become King. Julia hates and wants change. Kai wants to forget and Emily wants to destroy. In order to do this they must defeat the dragon and face the usurper. It's the only way to break the spell.-YuriyJulia, minor MaxEmily-
1. I

**Notes & Warnings:** I wrote this a very long time ago. At first it had been just a little oneshot that was more like the fragment of a story. I was trying for a different type of description. But lately I've been thinking about this a lot and a plot actually formed and I decided to follow that little bunny and see what happens. It should be a short story.

It's a fantasy that is darkish, and dirty as in a grimy street that is full of foul language and dark scary things. It is meant to be a dark** Fairytale**. The idea is for it to be like a classic fairytale, except more dark and cynical and all kinds of terrible. We have the Hero, and the Damsel and the Dragon and the evil that must be defeated. Except of course that they have been twisted beyond recognition. There is magic and creatures of great and terrible powers-they will show up soon-ish.

There is foul language, lots of it, mentions of drugs, and mentions of sex. Nothing too graphic but if you find it not suitable to your taste, then don't read. This is a revised chapter one.

One **warning** I have to give is to, don't take everything too literal. Most of it is figuratively, but do think about what the figurative description is saying about a character or their actions.

I will be using the original Japanese names for some of the characters. This story does have a main song by the smashing pumpkins 'the beginning is the end is the beginning', which are the lyrics present in italics at the beginning and the end.

Names: Yuriy**(Tala)**, Takao**(Tyson)**, Boris**(Bryan)**, Sergei**(Spencer)**, Ralf**(Robert)**, Hitoshi**(Hiro)**, Borg(**Boris**), Mao**(Mariah)**, Rai**(Lee)**, Giancarlo(**Enrique)**, Daitenji**(Mr. Dickinson)**, Moses**(Crusher)** and I think that's it. if others crop up i'll let you know.

Pairings: Mainly Yuriy(Tala)xJulia

The original oneshot/fragment was dedicated to Lamanth, as of now this story is still dedicated to Lamanth.

Also the song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter do not belong to me.

* * *

**Chasing after Clouds**  
by: zulka

_Send a heartbeat to _  
_ The void that cries through you _  
_ Relive the pictures that have come to pass _  
_ For now we stand alone_

* * *

Shattered glass and ads of fast food places that were half faded looked at her in the face. Rundown buildings were littered with graffiti and broken windows—that looked more like eyes than anything. She passed through all of them, made her way to the marching crowd of students with neon green hair and electric blue. Ripped torn jeans and fishnets were all the rage along with the New Age music of acid lyrics and ear shattering guitars that made one bleed blood instead of tears.

The queen had slit her wrists on the day of her wedding and landed on broken flowers. That had been the day before. But the world didn't care. Sunlight filtered through the dark clouds of smoke and looked a sickly red. The sky had been bleeding since the day she was born.

The city fell into black, grey and white and strangely enough red was the ruling color of all. She figured it was because so much damned blood had been spilled back in history.

"Fucker over there thinks he's all the shit." Her friend whispered in that throaty voice that had screamed a little too much. Her hair was bright highlighter yellow and more body art than human along with the damn chains.

She sneered through grimy orange bangs, "He is shit. Just like every other motherfucker here." They passed like ghosts over the half filled bottles of beer and half naked people with green skin. Trash. She wondered who would be broken as a gift to the new deities. They too were trash.

Her friend snickered; she had lived for this shattering day when she would spit upon the holy ground. She pushed her orange bangs from her eyes which were vibrant dead green and ran a hand through her chopped brown hair. They were the children of doom. Born into a shattered earth of brown sludge and ash.

"See." She whispered to her friend as the sun went down to die another death and left the moon ruling in a shadowy haze. They had stopped and watched the cracks in the dirty cement.

"They were sin and fucking." She whispered as they walked into the grounds. Her friend nodded as they looked to the altar. "The temple is a fucking whorehouse and the oracles are the fucking sluts." With see through cloth and enchanting eyes that foretold of death with sex.

"And it's time to replace old with new." Her friend whispered in that raspy chains on concrete voice that made her shudder.

When she had been little she had looked for dream illusions and white puffy clouds only to find scars and fake _i love you's_ from sex obsessed males. But she was poison love of acid taste. No name faces that went through her with passion to leave her among crackling dying fires the next night. But she had always been echoes of forgotten dirty memories of flesh. And she wished to be that no more.

Smirking she watched her friend _spitcrouchandpee_ on the dirty 'holy' ground. Fuck the temple and its whores. Pleasure was pain and acid screeching lyrics of crystal meth. She walked away and joined her friend as they left the flashing building. To stay would allow life to betray them to death.

She was echo and she waved goodbyes as they parted for the remainder of the day.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." She whispered as she turned into the alleys of cigar smoke and too sweet incense the color of death.

But she was poison with no antidote. So she kept walking through the smoky grey haze that smelled of musk and aftershave. When she saw him she knew who he was. Princess of ice joined with the King of fire and produced a bastard child, last to a line of kings. With flaming hair and icy eyes that froze her to her spot. His gaze was predatory and wolf like, more animal than man. She approached him slowly. His eyes, the only things that moved to follow her. Their paths had crossed more than once and in many lives. He was the nightmare of her child years—a boy fading to charred bones. He was the crush of her teenage years—the man boy that lived and survived her poison kiss. She stood before him in black skirt and fishnet shirt that covered sun kissed skin.

He stood and looked away from jaded eyes that made his heart beat with the life he was born without. He was king of kings, last to a line devoured by a vulture queen. She was the light in childhood dreams and the death of teenage years.

He was ice and water fresh.

She was poison dead.

They were the children of doom. Born to a world crushed and drained. She sat next to him, even though he was standing and looking to the greenish haze of cigar smoke and too sweet incense. Moonshine was yellow and dirty like the trash they all were. She knew and he knew. So he walked and she followed like the little lost puppy she had become when she started wishing upon dying stars. He led because he was a king of nothing but pain and useless royal blood. Because it was his wretched destiny.

He walked away from the world and into the ash prairies where he sat. She sat next to him and followed his gaze to the disintegrating world, all flesh, sin, and death. She sneered because she lost her smile to the first fake _iloveyou_.

Their world had always burned. It burned and people yelled while others laughed. Living and breathing misery. It was all it was. Burn…live…burn…live…die.

She turned to look at him and raised a scarred hand to touch his alabaster skin. He was marble carved. She was corrupted life. He turned to look at jaded eyes of green meadows that made him live. She was Julia, bright dead life. He was Yuriy, a throne less king.

He returned her kiss of poison with one of ice and water fresh. And he sneered at her because his kiss was sweet unadulterated honey. The type that made you thirsty for more.

* * *

_And in your darkest hour  
I hold secrets flame  
_

* * *

Author's note: When I first wrote this, I had been thinking of fluff and it didn't work. But as of now, as I said above, it has turned into a dark YuriyxJulia romance farytale story. I hope you guys enjoyed and stick with me to see it to its end. Please review! Let me know what you think. If you are confused about anything, let me know, don't hesitate to leave a review and ASK! I will get back to you and if you are anonymous then I will reply in the next chapter! I will try to clarify as much without giving too much away.


	2. II

**II.**

_For of sugar and ice,_  
_ I am made. I am made_

.

She sighed. Her body felt heavy, and at the same time she felt like a luminescent bubble, floating over the red crumbling dirty city. She could hear the screams, and the crying of the lost children and the dying women and men. But at the moment, she didn't care. All she cared about was that Yuriy was with her, that his marble hands were raising goosebumps on her sensitive skin.

She felt like light, brilliant and blinding. She wasn't sure where she ended and began. She was sure she was encompassing all of him, and the grimy smelling room. She saw shadows flitting beneath her eyelids. She took a deep breath as if she had been in the dark blue sea. Yuriy chuckled and it was like water running over smooth rocks.

She sighed. "I hate you." But she loved the way his body fit with hers, sticking to each other in a way that she had always found repulsive.

The darkness coiled around them, deep and damp. It made her shiver. "The others were looking for you."

His eyes, the color she imagined the sky had once been, looked at her with annoyance and mockery. He did not say anything. He merely nuzzled her neck like a love starved dog. He was always so cold, like the snow but he always made her feel as hot as the fucking sun. That damn bloody looking sun.

"Julia" his whisper was like birds fluttering. She hated it. Fucking hated it.

Yuriy looked at her and knew that in another time she would have been beautiful. But her mouth was set in a constant sneer, and her eyes were cynical, dirty and dead. He ran his cold hand through her hair, limp brown hair that resembled the decaying rotting trees.

"You're beautiful Julia." He whispered and felt her shiver. The darkness was growing heavier around them. Outside the moon was trying in vain to give light but all the smoke made her attempts fail horribly, making a sallow haze instead.

"I'll meet them tomorrow." He told her, and his voice was like a blunt knife. All threat but no danger. It made her sick and she snarled.

"You fucking coward." Julia hated cowards. She hated the fucking people who spoke bright words with illusion of depth. She despised them and cursed them every day; she lighted candles and prayed for their destruction. That's the only thing she asked for nowadays, when the sun sank down and drowned in the dark red sea she only prayed for destruction. She wanted to hear the people scream in agony and fear.

Yuriy's eyes narrowed, meeting her judging gaze. "He knows we're coming." His words were like a cold winter wind, snapping at her all the way down to her bones, cutting. But all she could think about was brown hair and unfathomable chocolate eyes and a scream so agonizing it made her insides wither. Her heart full of spidery cracks finally fell apart like the glass vase Judy had.

"How?" her whisper was like the scurrying dead leaves and shadows passed over her face as she turned from him to the window.

"He just does. The dragon tells him everything. He knows I am coming. He knew it the moment Mariam killed herself. Probably even before."

Mariam had deep ocean hair and her eyes had been full of brilliant green leaves. But her body was decaying flesh, rotting with every passing second. The luminescent queen had thrown herself from the highest tower, after her scarlet blood had drenched her sheer white gown. She fell and fragmented at the bottom, all her pretty bones twisted. Mathilda had told her she had never seen anything more beautiful. Julia had laughed. The heart she no longer possessed would have been sad and crying making itself soggy with salt water.

It was quiet, and the darkness twisted around them, damp and stale, winding around them tighter and tighter. "What are you gonna do?"

His eyes were cold like glaciers and her teeth chattered just by looking at them. The darkness felt heavier then, and colder like hail falling.

He said nothing and she felt herself hate him more for the damn stupid silence that felt like chains around her, binding her to him and his wretched destiny, to his stupid royal blood that was as useful as the fucking moon and its attempts at moonlight.

"We're leaving tomorrow, when the sun sets." His sky eyes held a challenge and a promise she was sure he wasn't aware of. But Julia was no needy child. Promises were trash to her, words that limped around because they were not whole enough. But she did crave blood, lots of it and only from a certain man.

.

Emily stared at the gray temple from a safe distance. Distaste filled her mouth with such bitterness that she couldn't even swallow. She spit at the ashy cement. The students were littered around, laughing and drinking to their deaths.

From afar she could hear the scratchy voice of a male lead singer, the guitar chords ripping at her eardrums. She laughed then, like a door creaking, about to fall. The pallid moonlight, weak and pathetic gave the temple a decrepit look. But Emily knew better, the crumbling pillars were still standing strong. She wanted to break them. Shatter them down to the bleak black earth. Wanted to make those priests wet themselves with fear and outrage, she wanted to kill them and spill their rust colored blood all over the marble steps that shone brighter than the stupid moon.

She had seen Julia earlier, as they marched with the idiots who wanted to sacrifice themselves to the priests and the bloody oracles. Those fucking bloody oracles with their see through gowns, and glassy eyes where Emily could see her own reflection but never theirs.

She had gazed upon glassy chocolate eyes that didn't see her, eyes that hadn't seen anything except sweet drugged pleasure that sickened Emily so so much. It made Emily want to throw up the food she didn't eat, and cry the tears she promised Max when she was four years old.

"Still here?" The voice coiled around her like a snake, poised and ready to strike. But charming nonetheless.

He was sitting there, in that expanse of deep deep darkness that made her skin crawl. But his skin was so pale he gave off his own repugnant incandescent light.

"Kai," she spat his name like chains smashing against the ground. It burned her tongue to even say it. Her hatred for this boy was as vast as the damn sky.

Kai watched her with those hawk like eyes, impassive, still as a statue. She wondered how long he had been there, sitting like a snake ready to kill. He uncoiled himself from the darkness, and stepped into the pasty moonlight. All his ugly shine gone and replaced with scattering shadows that danced around him.

Emily could see his failures dripping from him like water. It disgusted her.

"Don't tell me you marched with us today." She hissed.

He didn't answer, standing so still that she could have sworn he wasn't a real person. But he was staring at the temple. "I watched." He rasped.

Emily sneered at him. Her arms crossing over her chest.

"You ripped her heart out." She whispered venomously, her words like the sting of a scorpion, deadly. She turned then, she couldn't be in his presence. It sickened her more than the damn temple, more than the priests and the glassy eyed oracles. She would kill herself if she had to stay with him a second longer. Already she could feel her insides begin to shrivel.

Kai watched her leave, her highlighter yellow hair shining, blending with the electric blue of the students that still lingered, laughing and toasting to death with sex. The acid lyrics of some band played in the distance.

Decayed wine eyes looked to the temple and remembered rich brown eyes full of laughter, eyes that had filled with a betrayal so deep that they overflowed. On that day his blood turned to acrimony so foul his own soul splintered, its shards making him bleed black blood. He does nothing but drown in his own blood and sea of failures.

He hadn't known goddammit; he hadn't known it was going to end like that. Those glassy eyes were his biggest failure, drowning him in dark water. They haunt him, and they are the shadows that follow him day and night, whispering, begging, asking, demanding and biting him with itty bitty lion teeth.

.

Notes: Yes, well I hope you enjoyed and are wondering and questioning. I am falling in love with this story more and more. Lyrics at the beginning are from AFI's _Love Like Winter_

**Remember** if you are confused leave a review and ask, I will clarify as best I can without giving too much away. I will have replies for the questions/suggestions in the following chapter. **Also** because I know the language is confusing, remember not to take everything too literal. But there are clues hidden there.

_ There are a few things that have popped up that you might want to keep track of and pay attention to:_

1. In this chapter there is a connection between Julia, Emily and Kai. All of them make reference to something/someone.

2. In this chapter and the last one, the Temple along with its priests and oracles are mentioned and not very fondly. Keep that in mind and ask yourself why, especially if you find the connection between Emily, Julia and Kai.

3. Tala mentions a Dragon, keep an eye on the dragon. The dragon is important.

4. Mariam is the queen mentioned in the first chapter, in case you were wondering.

5. Remember the summary for the story. It tells you a lot.

6. Yes Emily is the friend from chapter one that Julia meets up with.

I hope this helps.


	3. III

**III.**

_Wounded is the deer that leaps highest  
And my wound it cuts so deep_

_.  
_

"I want you to protect her." Takao's voice was as free as the summers they never knew. But the leaves of Takao's voice were red, bright scarlet and running, leaving him looking like beautiful pale moonlight. The one they never got to see. Kai hated how Takao could sound like summer or spring. Kai would always be a barren winter, cold, harsh and unyielding.

"Don't be stupid." Kai's voice was harsh like the winter wind, ripping at Takao's leaves and scattering them, leaving them dry and dead.

"Promise me, it's the only thing I'll ever ask of you." And just like that the scarlet ran, the leaves shook and Kai couldn't stand looking at Takao's wounds. They twisted in red with alabaster bones, grinning at him, mocking him. For all the fire that burned Kai and made him glow more beautiful than the sun, he could do nothing.

"She's our family." The leaves fell to the wind, scattering about the dingy grass, all yellow and brown leaving a faint trace of scarlet. "Do you promise?"

Kai nodded and he watched as summer fell from Takao's eyes, leaving them blank and dark like the coldest and darkest nightfall he had ever seen and felt. It wrapped around him and tightened around his heart, cutting strings and left a sad thing among ripped muscles.

These words were a living, breathing thing, a memory and he could hear them so clearly and yet Kinomiya Takao had been dead for a long time and Kai knew that there was nothing left but bones that continued to rot, all yellow and sour. Kai wished they were ashes and nothing more so that he could scatter them to the wind and never think about him and that damn broken promise he still held in his hands, in different shades of sharpness. They cut to the bones but he couldn't let go. It isn't the worst of his failures.

The footsteps raised the ash and made him turn to see Yuriy stalking toward him. His sky eyes stared at him with too much intent, he growled.

Yuriy knew that Kai must have sold his soul to some devil; it is the only way to have it ripped out and leave a gaping hole for everyone to see. The darkness Kai carried around him was mighty fine and it only kept growing. It glided over Kai, seeping into him until he couldn't tell where the darkness ended and Kai began.

"What do you want?" His voice was full of so much vitriol that Yuriy wondered how he didn't choke on it.

"You know the dragon." It's was a statement that made the shadows around Kai skitter before they slipped and slithered toward him, ready to snare him and plunge their black fangs into his neck. They wanted him to bleed cherries, so that they could feast on them. Yuriy shuddered and moved back.

Kai's bark of laughter made his skin crawl with tiny worms; he could feel them moving inside of him, eating his flesh, drilling holes into his bones to make them hollow. It sickened him.

"The dragon?" His voice was like a whip, snapping at him and drawing blood and he wasn't done. "What does a bastard king who renounced everything, want with the dragon?"

Yuriy was sure he was bleeding all over, dripping clumps of scarlet color on the ash. Kai's eyes were narrowed, suspicion dancing at the corners. But Yuriy was tired of running and looking behind his shoulder every single fucking time. He was tired of the damn red world and its sickly colored moonlight. He was tired of the disintegrating buildings with eyes for windows; he was tired of the people with green skin. He was tired of being nothing but trash with the eyes of the old sky.

The smell of too sweet incense reached them and he thought of Julia's bright dead eyes and her poison. Yuriy looked around the ash prairie. It was grey and yet in a few hours when the sun came up they would be gleaming in red.

"How did that devil rip your soul out, Hiwatari?" Yuriy smiled all sharp teeth and no mercy. "Must have been a very high price. You couldn't pay it could you?"

Kai snarled, "Piss off!" What did Yuriy know of the dark water and the shadows that followed him? What did he know of glassy brown eyes and red leaves? He had paid the price. His splintered soul was proof of that. Yuriy knew nothing but the stupid miserable pain he lived with.

Yuriy frowned. His eyes become cold and distant, clouds gathered in his sky eyes. "I'm leaving when the sun sets. I'll be by the temple. I know you want to see the Dragon, Kai. Though I can't possibly imagine why."

Kai recoiled from his words, they stung him, pierced the sad thing living where his heart once stood. He had seen the screeching thing, sinister with rose colored edges, a brilliant and terrible beauty. He had trusted the rose colored edges, once. When he thinks about those rose colored edges he recalls the ruins of another broken promise. One more cutting than the first and more haunting, uttered in his own cold winter wind voice, _"I promise that you'll be safe. I'll come back for you."_

.

Sergei could see Boris from a distance. The sunlight glimmered in red. His canteen half full with murky water, it tasted like mud but it was the only water there was. It hadn't rained in years. Sergei wanted to see the rain, even if it was more like acid than water, even if it burned his skin off. Anything would be better than the red haze and the rare grey days.

The city was bustling with torn life, rats scuttling around looking for living shadows. He had seen the nibbled bones of some kid in the back alleys along with a face missing eyes. The empty sockets seeing more than eyes ever could. A long time ago, the sight would have been enough to make him sick to his stomach. Nowadays, Sergei viewed everything with detached interest, trash could only offer so much.

He had lived too long under the red haze, had seen too many nights of yellow moonlight. His father had spoken about the time when the fields glittered in emerald and the moonshine was liquid silver and the sunlight was pure gold and pearls of light glinted alongside the moon. There had been no living shadows then.

But Sergei only knew trash; he only smelled death and rotting corpses. The decaying trees around them never died, as if they were suspended in time. Sergei wished they would finish rotting once and for all. Their leaves were black and brown, falling down like rain, dark murky rustling rain.

As he walked the cobbled streets of the city, he looked at the buildings full of graffiti, he did laugh then, graffiti could always offer him color—bright dazzling color. The shatter glass gleamed in the sun, a multitude of fucking red colors. It made him so fucking angry that he stepped on it, hoping to stamp out the damn red, the damn fucking red his dad bleed still talking about fucking white and cool rain.

"Lost your mind already? I thought you'd last at least a few more months." Boris' voice cut like a knife through his thoughts, chopping them into fine little pieces that couldn't come back together. He was glad for that.

"You wish."

Boris laughed, dark and hollow, it made Sergei wince. "Are we meeting Yura or what?" He wanted to get away from Boris and his laugh. It always made his heart twitch and lurch.

Boris regarded him silently before nodding. "At Saint's Tavern."

Sergei always thought that name ridiculous, what saint was there left in the land? All the angels had fallen long ago. There could be no saints in a land like theirs, not in a red world that kept bleeding and had pus masquerading as moonlight.

"Lead the way." He muttered sounding like a broken organ.

.

Emily stared at Julia's scarred hands. "So you were with him the whole night?" her raspy chains on concrete voice, bounced off the grey walls of Julia's dirty apartment, pouncing on the brunette.

Julia hated Emily's voice. Always so brittle and careless, she imagined Emily's throat was raw and bleeding. It was a wonder she hadn't thrown up blood. "You guys were fucking the whole night, weren't you? Did you go find him after the march?"

Julia turned to regard Emily so sharply she could have cut her own head, "Yes and no. He left early this morning. I wasn't aware he was in the city until I saw Boris and Sergei. They had been looking for him. That was before I joined you in the march."

Emily turned from her to stand by the window, the stale air wafted in, caressing her cheek and hair, leaving them dry and cracking. "I saw Kai."

"Don't tell me the fucking bastard was marching."

Emily turned from the window, and gazed at Julia's scarred hands before she answered. "No. But I think he was there, coiled in the shadows." She shuddered then, remembering that deep dank darkness around the boy. It was a living breathing darkness.

Julia scoffed, "He probably regrets not getting a chance to fuck her. Probably couldn't offer enough money." Her words were like whiplash, making Emily cringe.

Silence stretched before them as Julia's words fell between them, making a dent on the floor. Neither said anything to the other. Julia watched Emily. She knew Emily hated those chocolate brown eyes, hated that glassy surface that reflected everything but the girl's soul. But Emily hated herself more for not being able to do anything.

"She's nothing but an echo now, a horrible echo that I hear all the time bouncing around in my mind." Emily's whisper was like a thorn that pricked Julia's ears and made them bleed.

"Stop."

"I think that he hears her too. I hope her glassy drugged eyes haunt him, that they're the only thing he can see when he closes his eyes. I hope to the gods that he never finds peace!"

Emily's eyes glistened with iridescent crystals.

"Stop it Emily."

"You didn't see them Julia! You didn't see her eyes! Do you remember her eyes Julia? Do you remember them? Because I don't!"

Emily had never told her what had happened. Emily's hatred of the temple grew thereafter, festering like a wound that went untreated. That night, all Julia remembered was a scream, an agonizing scream that tore at the spidery cracks of her heart, a scream that she remembered long after in the deepest corners of the night. That and bright red blood that leaked into the wooden floor.

"You remember Max and I went to see if we could save her, maybe we could sneak her out. We both paid, gods it makes me sick just thinking about it. I found her."

Julia looked away into the cracks on the wall and the floor. Emily's voice was shaking, shaking like the boughs of trees in the wind. It cracked here and there, like the walls of her apartment.

"She had such an empty look and a sick twisted smile on her face. That's all I see Julia! That's all I see when I think about her. I don't see her beautiful smile anymore; I see a twisted drugged grin. I hate Kai Hiwatari, Julia. I hate him as much as I hate that temple and the priests. He _sold_ her."

Julia grimaced; she refused to look at Emily. She didn't want to see those iridescent crystals in her eyes. Julia remembered that night; the night Judy's vase was broken. The night Judy herself fell and broke, all her pretty blond hair splayed like a bloody halo. Julia had wanted to put her back together. She had wanted to pick up the pieces and fit them like a jigsaw puzzle, never minding that it would ooze blood through the cracks.

"I know." She whispered. "I know how the oracles are used!"

"No you don't. You didn't go. You don't know how it feels to look into the face of a friend you loved and admired and realize that you can't do anything anymore, knowing that she's become lost to the priests and their lust, all under the pretense of the gods. " Emily's voice was like a rattlesnake.

"There are no gods. It's under the pretense of the King." Julia whispered, her voice cracked and fell into itty bitty pieces around her.

Emily cackled. She looked out the window again, feeling the stale air. She shook her head, her bright yellow hair crinkling. "So what does the useless king want? Besides your body."

Julia looked at her then, thankful that the crystals in Emily's eyes were gone. Julia smiled all razor sharp teeth. Emily shuddered like the last leaf on a tree, waiting to fall, all withered.

"He's decided to go to the Castle."

Emily rose a barely there eyebrow, "To fulfill his destiny?"

"Or to die."

.

The tavern smelled like piss and cigar smoke and Yuriy could feel stares digging into him, snapping at him and piercing him. People had stared at him, at his eyes that held the endless old sky.

"Why would you ask Kai Hiwatari to come with us?"

He regarded Boris silently, his eyes sharp. "Because he knows the Dragon."

"Don't tell me you believe that bullshit." Boris voice rose, like the waves out at sea during a storm, angry and destructive.

"I have seen the darkness around him. It coils around him like a snake, tightening its hold on him day after day. He's not alive." Sergei shivered, feeling all warmth leave his body, leaving him feeling like a corpse.

"You can't help but wonder what a person like that has done." Yuriy shook his head at Sergei, his blood red locks shaking.

"I don't. I told him we were leaving, whether he comes or not is his choice and trust me Boris. Kai does indeed know the Dragon, and I'm willing to claim that he knows the Usurper as well." He could still feel the stares of people. All of them looking at him like he was _something_, he could basically hear their old hearts coming back to life beating slowly.

Sergei knew Yuriy was uncomfortable. All the stares of the people cut into his skin, leaving marks. "Is Julia coming?"

Boris looked at Yuriy sharply, his eyes asking a million questions. But he only shrugged, "Maybe." But all he could think about was Julia and her scarred hands running over his back and tracing the scars of his heart. His damn bloody scars that were like silvery thread, reminding him of who he was and what he was supposed to do, reminding him that he had royal blood in him and every time Julia ran her hands over them he would hate her. Hate her with so much passion he often wondered how he didn't burst.

"Yuriy," Sergei looked at this boy, who was older than him, he wasn't sure how old Yuriy was. He seemed too young, but he always knew too much, that it unnerved Sergei whenever he stared at those sky eyes.

"We were looking for you yesterday. You disappeared the moment we came into the city. You went to find her didn't you?" Boris never understood the fascination Yuriy had with the girl.

Yuriy stared at him and took a swig of his dark beer. He knew that Boris didn't understand why he cared about Julia and even Yuriy winced and choked on his own spit at the word 'care' because he didn't care about Julia.

But he could trace the scars of her heart with his fingertips back to a boy who didn't care enough to love her back even though he made her fall in love with promises of rainbows and unicorns. Yuriy knew that he must have spoken to her about cotton candy clouds and he must have also given her bright words, which shone like the stars she had never known.

Yuriy couldn't offer Julia any of these things. He wouldn't. He didn't hold the land or the future in his power. He wasn't a hero, which was why he hated all the stares that drilled into him with hope and dreams because he knew they were just going to end up shattered like all the other dreams that littered the dirty streets and in the end they would just be fragments of glass that would shimmer in shades of red and sharpness. He was just a boy that destiny decided to fuck over. He was a coward. Julia hated cowards. No, he did not love or care for Julia, but she was a good screw.

"She'll do whatever she wants." He answered finally, taking another swig of his beer.

Sergei hid his smile in his beer pint. For all the falseness and insecurities that lived in Yuriy, the softening of the sky in his eyes didn't lie. But he couldn't decide if it was good or bad.

.

Julia watched as the sun began to drown, the moon would come up to breathe soon covering everything in sour moonlight.

"I'm going."

Julia's eyes narrowed as she looked to Emily, all body art and chains, always with the chains. She was in dark blue, with her hair pulled back into a severe ponytail. Shadows scurried over her features, retreating and hiding in her bones.

"Why?"

But silence greeted her, running over her like muddy water. The silence always mocked her. It made her think of her screams. She wrung her scarred hands.

"Because Max won't wake up until we're covered in silver moonlight." Her voice was hushed, echoing lost time and silly promises that spoke of escape and stars, of tightly held hands and secrets-hope-to-die.

Julia nodded, though she wanted to laugh because she was so fucking jealous. All she ever did was spread her legs to fake promises of love. She didn't learn after the first time. But she hasn't done that in a while. She was an echo of pleasure, often recalled and called upon.

When Yuriy had kissed her that first time, she had expected him to bleed from her acid mouth. But he simply drank from her and breathed into her. She had never felt such freshness in her life. Yuriy had been like a sweet glass of clean cool water, her parched throat couldn't get enough of him. She wanted him to fill her to the brim and when he did, her bones had sung with pleasure.

He had taken her hands and bandaged them, ever so carefully that her eyes had misted and salt water ran from them. She decided then that she would hate him and she did, for he was the biggest coward of all.

"I'm going too." Her words shivered with emotion and felt tingly to her tongue.

.

Kai sat on the rooftop, and watched as the fluorescent lights turned on, drawing moths and other insects. The shadows limped around him, as if they knew what he was going to do. They bit at him, and screeched. He watched the people wander here and there, stepping on pieces of forgotten dreams and hopes. But there was a murmur that was rising and it spoke of eyes that were filled with the blue endless sky.

He scorned them. But the Dragon waited, hiding in the castle that rested over the cliffs. It rose every night, letting him roam the land. He could hear the rustling of red leaves in his mind and he cursed Kinomiya Takao. He could see Yuriy resting by the decrepit buildings near the temple. His eyes narrowed, in the end he didn't have anything to lose, not anymore. Not after he'd buried them.

He jumped.

.

Yuriy felt Julia before he even saw her. Bright black nails, black pants and boots, he stared at her eyes. Those bright dead eyes that always made his heart forget that it was dead. The sun had set, and he was waiting for Kai Hiwatari.

Julia stared at him, the silence between them seeking out her heart.

Next to her stood a girl with highlighter yellow hair, "You're tagging along?" he asked her, his eyes playful.

She smirked, "I want to see those healing hands of yours, dear king." Her gaze then settled on the temple, and Yuriy could see them blazing, lighting up the darkness around them, threatening.

Boris snorted. "You might be disappointed."

Emily smiled, all sharp edges, like Kai's darkness.

Julia saw him first and her gasp was soft like a butterfly beating its wings. Only Yuriy heard her because he was so damn attuned to her.

The darkness folded around them, cold and wet like stormy weather. It gave them chills and cut their bones in half. But Kai simply stared at them, looking like the quintessence of calm. But inside, Kai was a maelstrom of bitter emotions and regret, and they ran down like tiny rivulets of black water.

Emily bristled next to Julia, her chains hissing.

Julia simply stared at the incandescent light the boy gave off, all that sickening shine made her nauseous. Vaguely in the cobwebbed corners of her mind she briefly recalled her saccharine voice telling her that Kai shone as bright and beautiful as pale fire.

"Well," Yuriy began, looking at everyone with false confidence that was real enough. "We should get going."

"Do you even know the way?" Emily asked, her words grinding.

"We go west," He told her, his red locks swaying in the cold wind. "to the coast, to the Castle on the cliffs and to the Dragon beneath it."

.

.

_Notes_: So, how are you guys feeling? What do you think so far? Remember, feel free to ask questions if you're confused. I'll answer them as best I can. Lyrics at the beginning belong to Nightwish _End of All Hope_

I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it. Now things to keep track of/pay attention to, or just questions:

1. What are your thoughts on Julia's and Yuriy/Tala's relationship? The way they have interacted so far. Think back to the previous chapters, as well. He claims he doesn't care, and Julia on the other hand?

2. There was a lot of Kai in this and Yuriy/Tala as well. Did you learn anything new about them? Think about Kai and Yuriy/Tala's conversation, Julia and Emily's conversation, and Sergei/Spencer.

3. You got a new piece of information regarding their land, something else about it besides the red and nasty moonlight. Think about Sergei/Spencer, he mentions two things. Emily mentions something in the previous chapter that connects.

4. You got a lot of information on Emily in this chapter. It should answer a few questions. You'll get a bit more of her later on. And omg, Max showed up!

5. You found out something else about Julia, or rather there was more attention to it. Also you got to see a bit more of her whole 'I hate cowards' mentality, there was something to it. Yuriy/Tala comments on it as well.

6. Something else popped up too that might not be very prominent but now that you have learned more about Emily and Kai—do you see any similarities between them?

**Well I think that's about it, well I hope you guys enjoy and have fun. Let me know your thoughts/theories! **


	4. IV

**IV.**

_I've been drowning in sorrow  
Chasing tomorrow,  
Running away_

The path that led out of the city was full of grey dust, glimmering with faint traces of red and black. It rose with the wind, sighing and whispering. It danced around them mockingly, smiling shrewdly. The trees around them shifted and groaned, their twisted leaves laughing with derision.

Yuriy knew they were baiting him; they wanted to hear what the bastard king had to say. The path knew him, had felt his footsteps many times. The grey dust had danced before him and embraced him. It had caressed his hair and face, leaving his skin cracked and dried. But it had been long since he had set foot on the grey dust. He had not gone this way, for a while. He had spent most of his time south, far away from the west and from the Kingdom that lay north of these lands. For that Northern Kingdom lay in a waste of barren frozen land.

But Yuriy kept his thoughts to himself, and walked on, ignoring the grey twirling dust and the trees. There was not much light falling through the leaves of the trees, just patches of yellow that fell through here and there lighting their way. But they were in no hurry.

"Why did you choose to leave at sunset? Why walk by night?" Her voice was a whisper, barely reaching him over the tumult of his thoughts as they ran with the winter wind and the ice crystals of the northern kingdom.

"No one will think twice of the people that go into the west road at night, thinking them students that are merely up to some tricks, who merely want to drink and dance in the darkness of the forest."

Emily watched him through narrowed eyes, "Are you saying that during the day this road is watched?"

"No, but it would be easier to remember those who set out on it and then the wonderings would begin, and so would the questions once they didn't return and all would lead to the ears of the main priest, Barthez."

Emily's chains rattled, and Tala thought it so strange. But she said nothing and merely fell back to walk along with Julia. She stayed as far away from Kai as she could. The shadows of the forest glided over him, covering him completely from time to time, shrouding him in a dank almost tangible darkness. It made her hair stand on edge. But through it all, she could always see a faint glimmer of his horrible haunting shine.

She knew that the others, except for Yuriy, were uncomfortable with his presence. It hanged over them like a curse. He kept to their right, with as much space as possible between them, without retreating out of the path itself. It seemed that he wasn't as keen to be with them either. She had to stop herself from yelling at him, and cursing him. But she wasn't sure if she would be able to stop herself for long, because the words were so acidic and razor-sharp that they cut her mouth and her insides and it was so painful. So she kept her teeth clenched, least they escape and make her say what she's been dying to say for years.

"I hope you guys brought provisions and cloaks." Emily was thankful for the slight distraction of Sergei's voice and simply nodded. She could not trust her mouth, not anymore, and certainly not as the minutes passed and the shadows lengthened and joined with Kai.

And so they kept walking on that ashy sinuous path, with the laughter of the trees and the shabby moonlight. They did not speak to each other; they simply walked, covered in silence so thick it fell about them like a fog.

At length the path straightened and in turn led to other paths but they continued, following Yuriy on the main road.

"There are so many paths." Emily whispered as she tried to stare out in to the darkness to see where they lead. The moonshine fell about them more as the forest began to thin around them, the leaves shaking slightly from the wind.

"They will trick you. We need to remain on the main one for now." Yuriy's voice answered, but he kept staring ahead, never once looking back.

"You're been here before? This far?" There were many things about Yuriy that Emily did not know. Things she wondered if even Julia knew.

"Yes, many times." Yuriy's voice carried weariness, his words were brittle and she could hear them snap with the weight of what he had said. From the corner of her eye, she saw Julia tense.

"You've been all over this land, I imagine." Emily muttered, and walked ahead, watching her steps on the grey path. They glimmered with a faint trace of red. She grimaced. She caught up with the king then, and turned to look at him, and that bright red hair that always made her think of freshly spilled blood. But it also reminded her of another person, who had perished in a fire, on the day they met him, this king.

"You've made this trip many times before haven't you, dear king." She was no longer watching him, but rather staring ahead to the endless grey path, with its dancing dust. Yuriy narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"But I imagine that you never walked those last few miles. Tell me, did you stand there with your friends or by yourself? Did you lack courage, strength or will? Or perhaps, you didn't care at all. I wonder if you looked back every time you ran away." Yuriy's hands were clenched tightly his bones could have snapped, his knuckles were white. But Emily's voice held no mockery, they were simply cold and void. They fell on him and around him, crushing him. For she had spoken all the things Julia never voiced, all the things that lay between them, like ghosts, always pulling and pushing till they were both raw and aching and full of hatred.

"You know nothing." He whispered harshly. Emily merely raised an eyebrow.

"I hold no hatred for you. I merely wonder." She smiled to the night then and her smile was vacant.

Yuriy walked ahead of her then, wanting to rid himself of her chains. The path continued on, always grey and miserable and the trees continued to thin until there were barely a few here and there, with grey leaves. They came upon fields then, barren yellow fields and in the distance they could see the shadows of mountains, wicked and foreboding. It would be a while before they reached them.

Boris and Sergei knew those mountains. They knew most of the land. They had traveled far and wide with Yuriy. Sergei knew they would reach those mountains in two days. "Don't you think we should take a rest soon?" he asked their leader.

Yuriy didn't turn. "I suppose you're right. We haven't slept after all and we've been walking since a little after sunset." But there was something strange to his voice, and his words sounded weary, and heavy as if they could barely maintain themselves. Julia stared at him hard.

He looked to the fields that lay on either side. There were no trees, just dried grass all the way to the feet of the mountains. He sighed then, and it carried over on its own wind to the fields, who answered in quiet rustling whispers. The land knew him. It remembered him and mocked him again, recounting his past and the many times he had stood on that same spot. But he ignored it.

"We should stay and continue at light tomorrow. I'd forgotten that there are certain things that come out to play at night." He said this with a wry smile. "Darker shadows, than yours Kai."

Kai simply spared him a brief glance.

"Are we going to stay out in the open?" Julia questioned, though she could care less about darker shadows. If they came out to devour, they would be doing them a kindness. She only wished they would come out to the city. It would be a kindness to the lost children. She wouldn't have to hear them or see them cry salty rivers.

Yuriy nodded, and turned to walk off the path, "We won't go too far, but we don't want to be too near either."

"What have you seen?" Emily asked, if she focused on other things then the sharp words inside her wouldn't cut her up as much.

At that Yuriy looked at Boris and Sergei, "things with sharp teeth and long sharp nails, though they haunt mostly small towns, for city folk are too preoccupied to believe in such things."

"You got that right. We've never heard of anything more sinister than the Dragon, and even that seems like a dirty lie at times. When you think about the state of things, isn't death more kind?" Emily finished as she pulled out her cloak from her small bag, and covered herself with it. There was no wind, but the night wrapped around them with its icy fingers.

Boris smirked at her then, "What do you know about the Dragon?"

"Nothing. Except that there is supposedly a Dragon." She walked behind Julia then, as they continued to walk to finally rest at the foot of a small hill. She could see the grey road from there, lonely, and cold.

Sergei chuckled and let himself fall on his back.

And Kai, who did not stay near them, frowned.

Julia drew her own cloak from her bag and wrapped herself with it, pulling it tight around her. Yuriy sat next to her and they remained in silence.

"I never thought I'd live to see this day." She whispered, finally. Her voice was colder than the night that wrapped around them, and it wound itself tight around his heart, squeezing it. "I thought that I'd be long dead, buried beneath the red and grey. And you would still be running. But it doesn't matter. There are things I can't let go."

He tensed then and grasped her scarred hand pulling it to his chest. "I'm sorry." He whispered and it seemed like knives to Julia's heart.

"Don't apologize. It doesn't do any good." His hands were cold; he was always so damn cold. He didn't let go of her hand. He held it and ran his fingertips over it. The same way she ran her fingers over his back.

"You're just as selfish as I am." He told her and she sneered.

"I hate you. Because even now you don't know what you're going to do. You still run."

His grip on her hand tightened. "I hate you just as much. You don't know any of it. You can't judge me."

He said it then, finally. What he could not tell her the night before in her apartment. Yuriy did not dream pleasant things when he slept. All his memories of childhood were of screams and blood and giants. Screams that pierced the night like daggers, making the darkness bleed a bright red. He vaguely remembers a woman, with silver hair, before everything is swallowed and painted dark red, like blood that coagulates and sits beneath a wound that did not heal.

Julia snatched her hand then, and left to sit next to Emily, who was asleep and dreaming restless dreams as well.

He watched her, the warmth of her hand leaving his. He knew the scars of her hands, knows how they came to be. When he thinks about them, he feels sorry but hates her nonetheless. He hates her for making his heart pump blood, hates her for hating him and he hates her because next to her his nightmares don't exist.

"I can't give you what you want." He whispered, and hearing him her shoulders slumped.

"You said that the first time and you left." Her voice wavered, and he flinched. But she remained silent, and did not tell him how much she had cried afterward, with bandaged hands that she had wanted to fucking rip off in order to forget his touch. Her hands were scarred, not just with the fire and the glass but also with his touch and his rejection. Her hands had burned long after they had healed and they still fucking burned each time he touched them.

In the deepest corner of his mind, he can recall gleaming snow and white flowers. She had white flowers in her hair, in her pink hair. She had been beautiful in that barren land and he had loved how his name sounded on her lips. He had kissed those lips many times. He had drunk from her innocence and her joy, and for a while he forgot what his blood meant and what his destiny wanted. He forgot about the crushed houses and the soldiers. He forgot about the forming scars. But she was long gone now, buried beneath the ice.

She had asked for the sun. She had asked for his love and he had simply said _"Mao, I—I don't know."_

As he stared at the grey road, he remembered the many times he had walked upon it. The first time had been after her death, he had not known Boris or Sergei then, they hadn't been born yet. But the world that greeted him was stark and red. He returned to the north then, to the ice and the cold. To Mao's brother Rai, and his knowing gaze that was full of bitter disappointment and anger. Though Mao's ghost no longer haunts him, it is Rai's gaze and many others that he remembers, with Mariam in a league all her own. They often rip him to shreds, always reproachful. But it had been easy to pretend and to deceive himself as the years of his life passed, until that roaring fire and those unbearable heartbreaking screams and green eyes.

Boris lay quiet, listening to the rustling of the grass, it whispered things in his ear, and it mocked him for trusting Yuriy. It told him of his friend's fickleness and the many times he had stood on the grey path under the red sun. But he ignored it for he knew.

He had met him in the cold streets of the northern kingdom. The frozen wasteland had been home to both of them. He saw him get up, and walk among the billowing grass away from them. He stood up and followed him.

"What are you thinking Yuriy?"

But Yuriy didn't answer. He merely looked to the shadowed mountains. "I don't know. That maybe she's right."

Boris said nothing.

"I know where this road leads, I've been on it many times but I still don't know." Yuriy's voice coiled around Boris, sounding raw and vulnerable, and he couldn't stand it.

"Whatever lies at the end of this road Yuriy, Sergei and I will be with you. We will see it to its end, once and for all. To whatever end that might be." The statement made Yuriy smile, a small smile that Boris didn't see. It was so small even Yuriy didn't know it was there. But it was a bitter smile, full of all the regrets and fear and missed chances.

"I'll keep first watch." Boris told him, as he went back to where the others lay.

Yuriy nodded to the silence and the emptiness that spread before him. Turning he saw Kai sitting slightly off to the side. He narrowed his eyes then, because he had heard stories about the guy in other towns and he wondered what was true. Kai was smoke and mirrors.

Kai felt Yuriy's gaze and turned to give him a long silent stare. But Yuriy neither frowned nor backed away, like he had in the ash prairies. He simply stared at him, with neither pity nor questions in his eyes. Kai turned away then and continued to watch the grey road. It had been that road that had carried him and her to the city, without Takao.

He could feel the waters rushing into him, its currents pulling him down and down into the darkness and the cold. There was nothing down there, but vast emptiness and the shards of his soul burned his skin. So he lets himself fall into the waters though he wishes he could stop. It is not just their memory, but the feeling of being so alone that stalks his waking self.

.

Notes: So here we are, at the beginning of the journey. You got more Yuriy/Tala information, and you got more into Yuriy/Tala's and Julia's relationship and how they met. More will be explained in later chapters. The next update for chapter 5, will not be next sunday as I will not be near a computer. So it will either be on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Hope you all enjoy. Lyrics at the beginning are from Within Temptation's _Sinead_

Not a lot of Kai, I know but he's coming lol, remember Emily is near breaking point with him.

thank you for reading

-zulka


	5. V

**V.**

_But I'm lost  
I'm so damn lost_

It took them two days to reach the foot of the mountains, and the road had slowly been slanting upwards. The fields had begun to give way to thorny shrubbery and small bare trees, all sickly looking ready to crumble. Julia had kept her distance from Yuriy, Sergei had noticed. Yuriy himself, seemed more distracted as well.

"So this path goes into the mountains?" Emily asked as they continued to walk under the setting sun.

"Through it, yes. There is a village up, where if possible we'll get more food." Boris answered her, noticing that Yuriy would not speak.

There was no wind, just the grumbling of the mountain, eager to feel the footsteps of its king, once more. Yet it welcomed him with a wicked smile. Yuriy stared at the mountains, and at the grey path that now turned brown. In the back of his mind he could hear the cries, and the running footsteps. The more he walked the more he thought of ocean hair and green leaves.

"How far is the castle?" Emily inquired. The words she carried became heavier each day and the cuts deeper.

Sergei looked at her for a long moment before staring at the mountain path and the small trees. "It will take about five days to go through the mountains, if not more. From there, farming villages, small towns, forests until we reach the coast."

"That will take a while." Emily muttered annoyed.

Sergei nodded. "Are you regretting your decision already?"

Emily shook her head, her hair crinkling. "No, but I guess time doesn't matter. It just seems like we'll never get there." She thought then of Max with his golden hair, sleeping away the days full of red and grey.

Sergei looked at her, taking in her highlighter yellow hair, always crinkling and her dripping chains always hissing. "You have reason to come, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Pray tell, what are they?"

Emily's eyes narrowed. The sun continued to sink as they continued on the brown dull path. "They are many, and I suppose that many others given the chance might have come as well. Don't you think? Tell me, you have traveled much, what is the attitude of those that live in the kingdom?" Sergei knew then that she did not want to speak about the reasons why the chains hissed, why her hair crinkled and her eyes flamed.

"It differs. Those in the south part, live as well as they can. In all our travels, everyone we encountered has always been bitter. Rare are those that continue to see with clear eyes. South, where I am from, elders speak of the days where cool white rain fell and left glimmering emeralds. You'll find a few of those, around. The city people are the hardest, the most cynical. Don't you agree?"

Emily smirked, "Perhaps." She said nothing else, and simply gazed ahead, the sky growing dim above them. "Does everyone know about the Dragon?"

A quiet so still engulfed her that she turned to look at Sergei, his eyes were hard and unfocused. "No." He finally answered his voice far away. "What the Dragon is, we don't know. We simply know it exists. The farther south you go, you find that people don't know. It is in the west where the myth is most strong and in the north."

"You mean that you've never seen it? Has anyone ever seen it? Julia says that it knows everything."

Sergei turned to regard her, her body falling into shadow. "We have never met anyone who has seen the Dragon. We have only seen the ruins of its passing. Whether the Dragon knows everything, there are those who say that the Dragon roams at night to gather information regarding the land. But who knows what the truth is."

Emily remained silent. She had never heard about the Dragon until Julia told her, who had heard from Yuriy. The shadows on the path lengthened, always resting with Kai. Julia walked in front of her, at a tired and despondent pace. A slight wind began to move, whistling around them, moving the boughs of the trees.

"There is a grove up a head, we'll take rest there for tonight. We'll reach the town probably by noon tomorrow." It was the first time she had heard Yuriy speak in the last two days. His voice was not like his own. It sagged around them, and it rested on Julia, making her take a sharp breath.

"You and Boris, have you always been with Yuriy?" She had always wondered, ever since that fucking fateful day that had bound them all with its strings.

Sergei kept quiet for a moment, hearing only his footsteps echo. "No. I met Boris and Yuriy when they came south. Boris met Yuriy in the Northern Kingdom. Do you know about that kingdom?" He thought then, of ice swirls and whispering soft snow. But the land was always so bleak, more so than the red and grey he had been born into, with hardly any sun.

"Not really, all we were taught was that it was bitterly cold and unlivable."

Sergei nodded, "It is cold, very cold but people of that land continue to live there. Yuriy was born there. For that was the Princess' Kingdom."

Emily's eyes widened, ahead, the grove Yuriy had mentioned came into view. "His mother?"

Sergei nodded.

"I always thought he was born here, in this land."

"No."

.

There was no moon that night, and so the dark was deeper than usual, but it was still just as cold. Emily kept silent after what Sergei had said. Resting her back on a tree, she stared into the darkness. Julia wrapped her cloak around her, wishing for warmth. The ground was hard and uncomfortable. The wind blew crackling around them the few leaves on the trees. Leaning into Emily, she stared at the dark sky, full of smoky wisps.

"Are you afraid Emily?" Julia whispered her voice soft and barely there.

"No. I have too much to lose to be afraid."

Julia said nothing, the cold around them continued to move, swaying with the wind. The sides of the mountains, always in deep shadow looked darker than the sky, huge, looming sides of pure black.

"I found out that your prince is from the Northern Kingdom." Emily's voice held a calm quality to it that Julia had never heard before, it unnerved her. "Why aren't you talking to him?"

"Because I hate him." Julia's words were full to the brim with conviction, it dripped on the ground.

Emily simply scoffed and shook her head.

"You've been in love with him since that day, when he saved you from the fire." Emily remembered it clearly, as if she was looking at a mirror that reflected that day, burning in painful accuracy.

"You're wrong. I've hated him since that day." Julia answered sneering, her short brown hair obscuring her eyes, bright red flames dancing in them. If she thought hard enough she could even smell the smoke and feel the ash falling. If she concentrated even more, she could hear his voice yelling for help before running into the building. She had never met anyone braver than that or stupider. Fucking stupid stupid stupid.

"But no one came." She whispered to Emily, her voice thick with emotion, and she couldn't swallow anymore. "They let him burn." If she didn't stop then she would break break break and dammit she didn't want to. "He was such a fool."

Her eyes stung, they stung so badly she couldn't see anymore. Everything was so fucking blurry and it was probably the smoke that was getting into her eyes again. In her mind she could hear her screams and yet no one came, no one helped her, so she ran in after him.

All those fucking cowards just stood around watching, until Yuriy came and pulled her out and she…_she_ couldn't _save_ him.

She swallowed, tasting the bitter regret and winced. "I wish he hadn't. I would have gladly died with Raul."

His name was like a million tiny pricks on her skin. It had been years since she had said it. She had screamed his name till her throat was raw with blood and her hands were blistering from the fire. It was then that he came, Yuriy, all freshness and cool water. It made her sick just thinking about it. Made her so fucking sick she wanted to whither right then and there. He had stayed for a few days, and then he had left again, leaving her in ashes and emptiness that she had tried to fill with other boys. Believing in more fake iloveyous, because Raul was the only boy that had ever loved her and he was dead, all bones, decay and ashes.

Emily said nothing, but in the mirror she could see everything. The house in bright red flames, Raul running in to help the lost children, some of them running out and then half of the house collapsing and Julia screaming for help before running in. She and Max had stood there in shock, ready to run in when a tall red head had stopped them, his eyes the color of water and sky. He went in and came back out with Julia. Emily knew he was getting ready to go back in again when the house collapsed completely taking with it the remaining lost children and Raul. Julia's mending broken heart, after that silly first boyfriend of hers, was crushed again with Raul's death and Yuriy's departure. This, Emily knew very well.

.

Yuriy sat at the edge of the grove, eyes staring intently at the shadowy mountains, the wisps of smoke coiling around their tops. But his eyes were not looking at the mountain; they were staring at icy fields and Mariam. Mariam with her long ocean hair and brilliant green eyes begged him to come back home to the land of his father, her uncle. She wanted help, his help to overthrow the usurper.

_Dear cousin, please. _

_I-I can't. I can't help you Mariam. I'm not that person. I can't be._

_The spell won't break unless you take your rightful place. Yuriy, please. I can't live like this, I won't. _

Yuriy smiled bitterly, she hadn't. She threw herself from the highest tower and left his hands covered in her blood. Her damn blood that no matter how much he washed his hands he couldn't get the red off. Rather dead than alive and married to the usurper. He hated and loved his cousin. Hated her for leaving him and loved her for believing enough to seek him out in the frozen lands that had once belonged to his mother.

Mariam had paid for her mother's mistakes and ambitions.

But even now he was still unsure.

The cold bit at his uncovered skin, but it made no difference to him. He had lived in the icy northlands, where hardly any sun shone. The sun Mao had wanted so badly. This cold was nothing to him. It was nothing compared to the coldness that spread through him every time Julia pulled away. They hadn't spoken, not since that night on the hill. He had thought that best.

Sergei had questioned him about it earlier, when everyone was setting up and getting ready to rest. He had told him that it was necessary. Necessary because he didn't have a damn clue what the fuck he was doing or what he had to do and he didn't want to fail her again. Sergei had given him a level look but said nothing. But Yuriy knew what he had meant and he had felt himself gasping for breath.

He stared at the road, dull and ominous, snaking past them and into the darkness. 'I'm just following this road.' He thought to himself and the mountain in its darkness laughed at him.

.

The breaking red dawn awoke them, another day of walking, following a road that snaked around the land that would take them to the usurper and his Dragon if they didn't fail before then.

The village wasn't that far, Boris had told them when they had gotten ready to leave. They should reach it by noon, if a bit later. The cold morning was damp. It chilled them to the marrow and they walked slowly. The sun was not warm, it felt as cold as the morning wind and the mountains that watched them, laughing and hoping.

Above them a raven flew and cawed before flying ahead. Kai stared at it with narrowed eyes. He fell behind them, walking slower than them. He did not feel the need to catch up; he knew this way and this road. The shadows skittered around him, joining with the mountains and bending before the light. But they were cold and they pulled at him forcefully. The road was long and he was already tired, his own haunting light dimming even more.

He could feel Emily's hate, it swirled around her dark and gloomy and full of sharp teeth, ready to rip him to pieces and leave him a bloody mess. He wanted to fall into it, to be twisted with it and forgotten.

He had to commend her for keeping it in check these last three days. He could tell that it was weighing down on her; her steps were heavy and her footprints deep.

Julia walked at an easy despondent pace. Neither seeing nor hearing. Yuriy at the front, was leading like he knew what lay ahead but every shadow around Kai was telling him that the bastard king was as lost as him. He smirked then, if this was the beginning, then they were already doomed.

The brown road stretched long before them. It snaked around the mountain and deeper they went, falling into its shadows which caressed them as they walked. There were no birds and no animals. The mountains were desolate, with withering shrubbery and trees. They stared at them hollowly, watching with unseeing eyes, whispering and rustling. The silence was long and heavy. It walked next to them and skirted around them, driving them from each other.

.

They reached the town a little after noon, it was silent and still. They did not plan to stay long, if they could find some food and water, then they would rest and then continue going. There were many towns along the way, until they reached the forest.

The few sad looking dogs, stared at them with despondency. Their barks had long been forgotten along with the need to protect.

Julia stared at them, silent and with scorn in her eyes. She hated it all, the dogs, the mountains the land, the people, and Yuriy.

Yuriy stared at the small town, a few children ran here and there in the swirling dust and ash, all dirty. But they were laughing, laughing the way only children can. They walked in further only to see an old man, who ran to them the moment he saw Yuriy.

"Oh it is you! You who will make the thunderbird come and with its cry it shall bring a storm that will wash away our land! It has taken long, but I always believed you would come." There were clear crystals brimming in his eyes, they spilled over and fell to the ground where they were swallowed greedily.

Boris stared at Yuriy, who was tense.

Julia sneered, "Don't get your hopes up old man; we'll die before the precious prince decides to be brave."

Yuriy scowled at her words, and touched the old man's shoulder. "Please stand, I don't deserve this respect."

"Grandpa!" A boy, younger than them ran out, and helped the old man stand before leading him away. "Stop bothering the travelers grandpa."

Emily watched them go amused. Her inked arms wrapped around herself as she continued walking. The houses were poor, made of decaying wood. She saw little gardens, hardly yielding anything, with more weeds than crops. She wasn't sure what Boris was referring to when he said 'food.' Things were horrible everywhere. She wanted to cackle.

"Yuriy? Yuriy is that you?" She snapped her gaze to the dark-haired girl that had approached them, short ebony hair and a dirty white dress. She had no shoes on, and her feet were dirty and worn. She was touching Yuriy's face, her own face bright with happiness. Beside her, Julia was tense. She scoffed.

"Who the fuck are you?" She said it to satisfy Julia's curiosity and her own and because the words became sharper every second that passed. She was sure that at any moment she would fall into pieces.

The girl looked at her surprised, before she scowled and darkness danced in her features. "I'm Queen."

Emily snickered. "Nice name."

Julia simply turned around.

Before Queen could retort, Yuriy intervened, like smooth cool water. "Yes, we are going to the castle. We're not stopping long. We just need water. We'll be on our way soon." His voice held no conviction, it was empty, and it made Queen sad.

"Oh. We have water, come." She led them to a small hut, never letting go of Yuriy's hand. Inside, there was no floor, only dirt and the walls were flimsy, ready to collapse. But Emily knew better, these walls were like the pillars of the temple.

"The well still gives water, though it is like most around the land, murky." Queen told them as she took their canteens and filled them. Her hands were cracked and dry. "We don't have much food."

"Like that matters, no one has much food anywhere." Emily muttered.

Queen stared at her, "A city girl, why your kind is the worst."

Emily raised a barely there eyebrow, and smirked with contempt.

"Your temple still tries to please dead gods," Queen sneered, "with pretty girls, and yet the land remains the same. Someone should tell them to try harder."

Emily's chains rattled and hissed, her face darkened, "Oh, what would you know. You who live in a mountain village."

Queen smiled so sharply Julia was surprised her lips didn't bleed. "I know, as do most that there are no gods. That no sacrifice of girls will bring back the spring. Isn't that what your priests do? Kill the pretty things and let their blood drip?"

Emily laughed, razor sharp. It made Julia wince, and Boris frown. "Oh! But if only they would be that kind!" She stood then and twirled mockingly. "Our kind is the worst, isn't it so Kai? With the pretty city girls being sacrificed to please dead gods." She laughed harshly; her voice scratched the walls of the hut.

The hut suddenly became colder, damp and Kai's shadows flickered ominously. Queen shuddered as did Julia, Boris and Sergei. Yuriy remained still. "That's enough." Though his curiosity was always piqued when it came to Kai, he didn't trust his shadows and their claws.

Julia stepped out then. She looked at Emily and saw her crumbling from the inside. She walked away, to the edge of the town and there she remained.

Yuriy watched her go silently. Kai left shortly after, his shadows following and the cold receding from their bones.

"Thank you Queen, we'll be going now." Queen glanced at him before turning to Emily who was staring vacantly out the door. It made her nervous, her insides twisted and she felt nauseous. She turned to him then, and caressed his face and it calmed her. It had been a few years since she had last seen him, felt him against her. He still looked the same. Not a sign that he had aged much. His skin was still smooth like marble, hardly any lines; his eyes were clear and full of blue sky. She nodded. She walked to the corner of the hut and picked up a bag and handed it to him.

"You don't have to." He whispered. But she shook her head. "You were a great lover Yuriy."

He laughed softly; his time with Queen had always been fleeting and burning. Both of them drowning sorrows but never loving. Of that he was thankful, thankful that she never loved him. She watched them depart. They looked small and tired, and she hoped that they wouldn't be lost on the path, that the mountain wouldn't eat them.

A raven cawed and she turned to look at it surprised. "You watch them so closely that I am afraid. Do you guard them? Or do you seek to destroy them?" It looked at her with a black steady gaze before flying off.

.

Notes: Thank you all for sticking with me, and for reading this, even if it is silently. The next update for this will be on Sunday. I hope this chapter answered a few questions and gave more insight into Yuriy and his past and his connection with other characters. The lyrics at the top are from Within Temptation's _ Shot In The Dark_

I just realized that I like making QueenxTalaxJulia triangles. LOL.

There was more to Yuriy and Julia's relationship. Oh and you learn about Yuriy and his age. You'll get more on that later.

Mariam showed up again.

That little meeting with Queen was there for a reason. So was the scene with the old man.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed. Please review, even if all you want to say is 'I like this.'


	6. VI

**VI.**

_I cannot revive what's already drowned  
She won't come around_

Night fell on them, with a crescent grey moon. They had passed another town, silent and still, a few hours after they had left Queen. The children had watched them with doubt and the adults had merely sneered at them. No one had greeted them.

They had walked in silence as they usually did but this time it was heavier. It clung to them with such forcefulness it seemed to crush them. Emily was tense, everyone could tell. Her steps were heavy, angry.

Boris looked at Sergei, who simply shrugged but curiosity was getting the better of them. The display of anger and hatred that Emily had shown in the hut was full of vitriol, and it had been directed at Kai and of Kai they knew nothing.

The path continued on, snaking around the mountain, sloping downwards into a valley, where another small town rested. The shrubbery had given way to brown pines all stiff and dry, growing close together. Their needles whistled in the wind, brown and black. The night was damp, and smelled of wet dog.

Emily continued, placing foot in front of foot, measuring her steps. She ignored them. She did not want to think about them or her. She could still feel his presence with his disgusting shine that made her want to spit razors and nails. She spit at the ground then, unable to swallow.

"The thought of that place is so revolting to you, isn't it?" She looked sharply at Boris. Her eyes like daggers pierced him but he went ahead. "Why? Is it not like Queen said? A mere sacrifice?"

Julia clenched her hand, and stared at Emily. "What do they say abroad about our temple?" She asked.

Emily remained silent and stared ahead.

Boris glanced at Julia before turning his full attention to Emily. Yuriy himself, had slowed down. Kai, in the back, stiffened.

"That the priests of the usurper try to please dead gods with pretty city girls, through sacrifice. But that is only near the city, in places far they know nothing of the temple. Travelers say that if you pay a high enough price you can sleep with them. That the city folks watch the ritual, when they are presented to the gods, and isn't what you were doing when we came into town? You guys were marching to the temple."

Julia scowled. Brown eyes came to mind, brown hair, screams. She could see it all, happening all over again. Emily tensed in front of her, her chains hissing, writhing.

Julia laughed then, laughed hysterically. She clutched her sides as she fell onto her knees, still laughing. Boris stared at her in disbelief.

Emily turned to glare at her.

Catching her breath she spoke, "Ems, I remember her eyes. I do. I remember her brown eyes. But I remember her tears and her cries of help, more. And yet my hatred is not as big as yours."

"Of course it's not." Emily answered stonily, her voice dead, flat and cold. "You didn't see her. Not even Max saw her. Only I did." She lifted her eyes then and stared reproachfully at Kai. "Did you?"

Kai said nothing and looked away. Emily's temper flared.

Julia was still on the floor, staring at the dusty path, her laughter forgotten.

"You left you fucker! You left her with us and disappeared!" Emily screamed, the sharp words finally finding release.

Julia stood up then, glaring at Kai. Her legs shook. "Fuck you Hiwatari. Judy died trying to save her and you come back after all this time like nothing happened, but your shadows have grown." She swallowed vile and moved towards Yuriy, falling into him and pushing him forwards.

"Let's go Ems. We need to move."

"No Julia. I can't move. I can't go anywhere yet." Her gaze was focused sharply on Kai, who was simply staring at the trees.

Julia stared at her, frowned and continued pushing Yuriy, pushing past him and continued walking. Boris and Sergei looked at each other confused. Yuriy simply shook his head before following after Julia. As they moved away, he simply said, "I think the girl deserves some last respect."

Julia chuckled darkly. "All the oracles do."

"Why do you say that?" Boris asked, Emily and Kai fading as they walked down the slope.

"Because they have nothing left. Because they are nothing. Because only the shells of their former selves are sacrificed." She stopped then, and turned to Boris, eyes vacant and cold. "They're whores. Drugged and used as sex slaves for the priests."

.

Kai watched their retreating backs get lost as they continued downward. He smiled sardonically then, and looked at Emily. "Is that all?"

She laughed harshly, grating him. "Oh if only." She turned away from him then and began to pace. Her footsteps hurried and her footprints tripped over each other.

"Your hatred is no concern of mine." Kai told her coldly.

"I know it's not." Emily answered as she stopped, her voice rigid. "But for her sake I'll speak. Because I can still see her and because I can't see who she used to be."

Kai walked away from her then, her anger followed him, razor sharp and pricking at his skin. It left little cuts on him.

"They took her the night after you left, you piece of shit! They came at midnight. Pulling her out of the house like a fucking doll. And Judy, do you even remember Judy? They stabbed her for getting in their way, all her blood spilling into the fucking floorboards. No matter how hard we scrubbed afterward they never turned brown again."

Her words cut deeper than she would ever know. It gave details to the picture the neighbors had told him, because that had been a simple 'they took one of the girls at night, the young brunette.' He knew it was simple to them, to them it had just been another unfortunate girl.

He walked to the trees. Emily didn't watch him. She only saw her being dragged out, screaming. Judy, Julia, Max and herself running after her, and she remembers being pushed away by Judy only to crash against the table and the glass vase falling. It was quiet after that, she figured she lost consciousness.

The memory was so vivid she could still hear the scraping of the table, the sharp shatter of the vase and Julia and Max screaming before everything turned quiet. When the noise returned, Judy was dead, Julia was crying and Max was silent. It should have been her, but Judy had pushed her away.

"I found her. I saw her." Her voice sounded dead to her own ears, flat. She looked sharply at him then, standing by the edge of the path, her eyes cutting. Her anger returned tenfold and flared bright around her. "Do you remember her Kai? Do you? Because I don't! But I'll tell you my last memory of her." She smiled sweetly then, and Kai looked at her, impassive. Inside, his emotions flared at her honeyed smile.

"I found her in the back, being fucked by one of the priests, holy union with the gods my ass. I can still hear her moans; her eyes were so vacant, so glassy. I can only imagine what they gave her—some sort of hallucinogen." Her eyes were blurry, so damn blurry.

"You son of a bitch you left!" Her voice was raw, and Kai couldn't stand to hear her.

"Shut up."

She laughed then, but the crystals in her eyes didn't fall. "I went to her, the priest left and I went to her. Such an empty look and a sick twisted smile on her face. She was their favorite! Their fucking favorite! Do you know what I mean? She was their favorite fuck toy! Are you sad because you didn't get to fuck her too?" The last she uttered with spite, full of razors and nails.

At her words, the shadows around Kai flared and twisted. "Shut the fuck up." He told her through gritted teeth. Red leaves, shook in his mind. He turned away from her.

"You fucking asshole! You fucking sold her; you sold Hiromi to the priests!"

He stopped dead, his hands clenching, his shadows flaring and grinning, sinking their claws into him. The shards of his soul burned so bad, so painful. Her name, he had not heard her name in so long.

'_Hiromi, is she okay?'_

_He nodded. 'She's fine.'_

'_I want you to protect her.'_

He swallowed then, tasting bitter regret and failure.

"But you know what kills me?" Emily's voice was soft now, but it was full of tears. "That as they took her that night, she said 'Kai promised me. He'll save me.'"

She bit her lip and drew blood. "But you never came back, you fucking bitch! You left and never came back! But now you're here, kinda late though. You disgust me!"

He smiled, and it was full of acid. "I know." And walked into the trees. He disgusted himself too.

Emily fell to her knees, the crystals in her eyes finally falling, "I'm sorry Max." She sat there, in the dusty path, and drew her knees to her chest and hugged them. "I miss you so much Max. I wish—I wish you were here."

.

Boris stared at Julia incredulously. "So you march for that?"

Julia snarled, "No. We march to let them know we hate them. Every time they collect new girls, to be offered as gifts, we march. We walk their grounds and destroy what we can. But we do get the fanatics, the ones who wish to die with the old oracles, the ones that are of no more use."

"So they are sacrificed?" Sergei asked as the night around them became darker.

"Yes. Once they are no longer useful."

"I don't understand," began Boris, "I thought people could speak with them. That they would tell you fortunes, but you're saying they are the sluts of the priests."

Julia looked at the path, "You can meet with them and if you pay enough to the main priest, then you can also sleep with them. But mostly…they're just there for the priests' enjoyment. They were never meant for the gods, that's just a lie."

Yuriy stared at her, his gaze soft, her voice which had rung with anger and rage had lowered to a mere murmur, like a small brook.

She met his gaze then, cold and void. "Rumors about this, all over the city, the people don't speak about it but anger just simmers. We have lost friends, sisters, daughters. So we mock them. To be taken as an oracle ultimately means to die, death with sex and it's never been sweet."

"You seem to speak from experience."

She looked at Sergei, "I knew her. Now she's gone. She came to town with Kai; a few months after all of you had left."

Yuriy reached for her, pulling on her hand, grasping it. She didn't flinch. She didn't draw back and he was thankful. Her hand was warm, and it warmed his own cold hand, the heat radiated from it flowed through him in his cold veins. But she didn't look at him.

Sergei and Boris kept quiet and still. They hadn't known about the oracles, not the real truth at least.

"It must have started when the usurper took power." Boris told her softly. She shrugged lethargically. She stared at Yuriy's hand and hers, intertwined. She felt a rush of water go through her, pulling her down into clear depths. She wanted to fall into them. To sink to the bottom and never come up for air, she wanted to fall into him and stay there and forget.

.

Kai walked in between the trees, glad for their cover, his shadows blending and lengthening with the shadows of the trees. There was no path, but he was sloping downwards and he stopped. He laughed then, laughed in the same manner Julia had laughed. Hysterically.

"What do you know, Emily?" he whispered as he stared at the ground, cold, hard and unyielding. Just like him.

He snarled but his shadows merely mocked him, and laughed at him. They screeched her name, tauntingly. The sad thing in his chest broke even more.

"Kinomiya." He whispered and he could see Kinomiya Takao, smiling, telling him that they should adopt her and take her with them. She had no family after all. No family, just like them. They would wander together then, through the land like a family of brothers with a younger sister.

_But together, you, her and me, we'll be a family. Isn't it great Kai? We won't be alone anymore. You, me and her, we won't be alone. We'll forget what loneliness is. _

He closed his eyes then and he could see her. He could still fucking see her, begging him to kill her, to show her kindness. It had been so dark that night, the night he came back like he had told her. But all people could tell him was that no one lived in that house, not after they took the girl.

He clenched his teeth to stop any sound from escaping. That fucking Dragon had lied. It had taken the guise of a man and he had fucking trusted him, trusted his sweet honey words. Those rose colored edges had cut him so deep that he still bled, after all this time.

"Kinomiya," he whispered, "I tried-I tried…"

He had gone into the temple, had tried finding her but Barthez had always watched him with a mocking smile. He had tried asking the oracles during their meetings, but they would just smile that sweet twisted smile and talk about the gods and the wind. Nothing consistent, nothing of substance and Barthez would just fucking smile.

And then, on a night with a half moon, as he sat near the temple grounds fate delivered her into his hands a bloody sobbing mess. He held her close, her tears running like rivers as her body shook from want of whatever drugs they had been giving her. Her see-through robe bloody and ripped. He couldn't bear to look at her. It made him sick. He took her with him, to the empty buildings that surrounded the grounds as running footsteps reached him. She had killed a priest during her frenzied escape.

Her body was shaking like a leaf. He had said her name so many times but she never heard him and it made him sick, so fucking sick because he had promised to keep her safe. He had wanted her to remain as soft and fresh as spring.

_I knew you'd be back Kai-pai. I knew you wouldn't leave me. _

Gods, he could still hear her, her voice imprinted in his mind, sweet, tired, and dead.

But she had asked the impossible of him. _Kill me, please Kai-pai. Kill me. I can't live like this._

But he couldn't do it because he had always been a selfish boy. She was the last thing he had tying him to those yellow rotting bones that belonged to his self proclaimed best friend, more brother than friend. Because she was his family, and he couldn't, didn't want to let her go, not after losing Takao.

_We'll go far away Hiromi, we'll leave. We'll be happy again. _

She had looked at him with despair then, her eyes drowning in tears of betrayal. She had given a cry so terrible it cut him to pieces. Her eyes had been wild. She had asked him once more and at his silence she had jumped taking with her the last of his brilliance, his soul shattering.

"Takao, I failed." For the first time, the leaves were silent and he knew that he would never hear them again. The sad thing in his chest fell to pieces, the last threads severing.

His shadows grew colder and wraith-like and they wrapped around him tightly, whispering and murmuring.

He heard his voice then, the one before he knew and loved people like Kinomiya Takao and Tachibana Hiromi.

_You'll regret this Kai, you'll regret it. _

And the shadows completely covered and extinguished his haunting shine.

'You were wrong Kinomiya, I still know what loneliness is.'

.

"Is that Kai's history?" Yuriy asked, he couldn't keep quiet, he always wondered about him.

"I don't know what Kai's history is. All I know is that he came to the city with her, her name had been Hiromi, his younger sister or family of some sort. Judy took them in after meeting her. But then for some reason, Kai left. It was unexpected, he didn't say anything. He just up and left. I've hated him since." Her voice held nothing, a slight note of rage but it dissipated easily, like mist.

They stopped walking then, her hand still held by Yuriy. They were close to the town now. The darkness coiled around the small houses, snaking around them. The cold washed over them, covering them in sharp icy fingers, caressing them and kissing their faces.

"There are rumors about him down south, some up here in the west. Different stories about him and those shadows that cling to him." Yuriy told her, his grip on her hand tightening.

"It's getting late, shouldn't we wait for them?" Sergei asked. His voice washing over them with hesitation. "Perhaps we should go back for them?"

Yuriy looked up to the slope. A raven cawed somewhere above them and he frowned. "Yes, maybe we should. Will Emily come back?" He directed his question to Julia.

"She should." She whispered looking into his water eyes.

"Maybe she will. But I don't know about Kai. That guy…he's smoke and mirrors." Sergei told them. Boris nodded in acknowledgement. Yuriy frowned. He needed Kai.

Around them there rose a rustling, but not like wind moving through the pine needles. It was eerie, full of darkness and misgivings. A chill rose in their bones and crawled to their nerves. There was silence and then a light laugh, childlike rosy and sweet, like bells twinkling in happiness.

Boris looked at Sergei, who stood still. He wanted to speak but felt his throat constrict with fear. The bells twinkled again, softly, kindly.

Julia felt the cold wrap around her like a blanket, a cold wet blanket that smelled of death. It spoke to her, the voice caressed her, touched her and left her feeling frozen and afraid.

'You're pretty. So pretty. I want to eat you. I bet you taste lovely.'

And she couldn't help but scream.

.

Notes: I'm somewhat early but I realized I won't have much time to actually get online and post it tomorrow, so here it is! In any case, I hope I can have chapter 7 up by Wednesday. So I'm changing my updating to Wednesdays and Sundays. We are somewhere in the middle of the story. The pace of their journey is going to pick up next chapter. There are only around five more chapters left. I'm excited. Are you? Lyrics at the beginning are not mine; they belong to Within Temptation's _Lost_.

You should check out the song, I felt it fit really well with Emily and Kai, mostly Kai though. Most of the songs for the chapters have to do with the chapter and the characters. Hehehe. They're like the playlist.

In any case, let me know your thoughts. We have some sinister thing lurking at the end of this, and a new mystery where Kai is concerned. Not to mention the Dragon and the shadows. Oh and Max! I haven't forgotten about him. Or Tala and his age/history.

Well take care and please review.  
Thanks for reading.


	7. VII

**VII**.

_When the moon finally falls down  
It will split us all up_

_.  
_

Emily's eyes widened, snapping out of her stupor she stood up and felt her hair stand on edge. Her chains were quiet, still and cold against her. Her legs were frozen, and Julia's scream echoed in her head.

Her breath came out in a puff, and she felt herself shiver. Her cloak felt damp. She felt the darkness closing in on her, the cold wrapping itself more tightly against her. She walked slowly, measuring her steps until she ran to the slope. But she couldn't see them. The moon barely gave enough yellow shine. She cursed softly.

Fear, it stopped her from moving further. She wanted to laugh then. She figured that these were the dark scary monsters. Would something jump from the shadows if she walked further? She questioned herself, taking a precarious step forward, very light and hesitant.

"Fuck it." She muttered before running down the slope and into the valley, stopping abruptly as she heard twinkling laughter. It made her blood run cold.

.

"And we're not even close." Kai sighed. He wanted to laugh then but didn't. Picking himself up from the cold floor he let his shadows guide him, leading him out of the trees and into the dusty brown path. Apathy stared out from his eyes. He could feel the cold and the darkness shift around him, greeting him and loving him. He walked slowly downwards, feeling the cold increase.

He frowned. He could see Emily's outline, still. He stopped a few feet away from her, head cocked to the side as he heard twinkling bells. His eyes shifted and his shadows screeched and moaned.

"Something's hungry." He muttered, making her jump. She glared at him, but he could see the apprehension shining in her eyes.

"I heard Julia's scream." She told him. Her voice held nothing but Kai could discern the worry that misted her words. Her hatred, which had once swirled sharply enough to cut, wasn't as sharp anymore. Slowly the sharp edges were receding, but the hatred remained.

He told her nothing as he walked past her. Whether she followed or not, he didn't care. Things, they didn't matter anymore.

.

Yuriy grasped Julia's shoulders tightly. Her gaze was full of terror and it shifted from side to side as if looking for something.

Boris stepped closer to him, "To think we should meet something so close still to the city." There was a slight tint of regret.

The rustling stopped but the twinkling laughter did not. It chimed nearer, and clearer, drifting on a light damp breeze.

The trees around them swayed.

"What are you hearing?" Yuriy demanded.

But Julia did not hear him. She merely shook her head and pulled away from him.

'Better run better run…and even then you won't run fast enough'

"I…" she started saying shakily, "this childlike voice…it's hungry…it wants my heart...my skin." She swallowed and looked at Yuriy. His gaze was colder than the wind and the fear that gripped them. He looked at Boris, who visibly shook like a leaf.

Sergei looked around him once more before walking closer to them, "This isn't good." He whispered.

Yuriy shot him a look, before holding on to Julia again. The rustling began again, closer. Julia looked at Yuriy, afraid. But it was the shining eerie little orbs that caught her gaze. They shifted in and out of focus, growing brighter and dimmer. Her heart sped up, her skin tingled and crawled.

"It's right behind you." She murmured, her voice weak. She wanted to run, to get away but Yuriy's hands kept her still. But she could feel her resolve breaking, slipping with the fear that ran through her.

Boris and Sergei looked sharply behind him.

She wanted to scream as she heard its shifting voice, sweet, sharp and cunning and then the orbs blended with the night and the shadows. She screamed then, and felt Yuriy's hands slip from her shoulders as darkness engulfed them, the yellow moon growing dim and out, as razor sharp claws and shiny sharp teeth reached for her.

Yuriy couldn't see anything. The moon had gone out and there was only darkness around them. He could hear Julia screaming. Rushed footsteps moving here and there. "Julia!" He screamed as he walked forward.

'If it isn't the little prince.' A voice rasped near his ear and he felt the breeze as it moved away from him rapidly. He could only make out red blinking dots.

"You made this darkness." Yuriy grit out.

'Perhaps…we wanted the girl. She smelled so yummy.'

Yuriy's eyes narrowed. "Where is she?"

A sharp smile was his response and he shivered. All he saw were sharp double rows of teeth.

'Don't worry, we won't eat you. There's a charm around you. Pity. You're the freshest.'

"Yuriy!" Her voice was panicked, and it sounded far away. He cursed before trying to follow it. The thing, moved with him.

'She runs fast, but they never run fast enough.' It made his blood run cold. He tried to hurry but he couldn't see anything.

There was a wail then, cold, hard and sharp. Whatever was near him, hissed and cried out.

'Run! Run!' it hissed to itself and Yuriy watched as the red blinking dots moved frantically around.

Again he heard Julia scream and paid the thing no more heed. If there was a charm around him, then they couldn't touch him, but that meant that the others were in danger and from somewhere he heard a raven caw.

.

Julia looked around frantically. But Boris, Sergei and Yuriy were nowhere near her. She heard a rasping laugh and a sharp caress on her shoulder. She screamed. She turned to run but she couldn't see anything. It was as if she was walking through black water.

She heard laughter, twinkling laughter from all around her. She ran, not sure where she was going. Her heart felt as if it would burst from fear. She could feel nips and tears on her skin, as if she was running through a thorny bush.

"Yuriy!" She yelled out as she felt something grasp her leg. She fell and all she saw was a huge mouth, open and revealing double rows of sharp white teeth, coming towards her face.

.

Emily bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming as damp darkness blotted out the flimsy moonlight.

"We're close." Kai muttered from somewhere. She couldn't see him though. All she heard was rasping laughter, twinkling bells and snapping.

"What is it?" she heard herself ask, a slight shake to her voice.

"I don't know." Was her answer from somewhere ahead. She kept walking, feeling as though she was going against a current. She could hear Julia, screaming, but it sounded so far away. She bit her lip then. Was this how it was all going to end?

.

"I think, once they catch her, they'll come after us. There's more than one." Boris told Sergei, or attempted to tell him. He wasn't sure if his friend was anywhere near him. He swung his satchel around himself in a circle. Trying to catch whatever was near him.

"Probably. I didn't think something like this would happen though. We're not even near the castle, or the town. Where are you? I can hear you."

Boris laughed, "Can't see me huh? That makes two of us." He swung his satchel around again. He heard Julia's scream and winced. "Makes me wish I had magic." He said softly.

"Boris! There's a raven. I hear a raven."

Boris frowned, the shadows dancing before him. Then suddenly, there was light. A bright light as if dawn was breaking and they were witnessing the pure golden sun of old. It was blinding and he covered his eyes. But around him, he heard a wail rise; it put his hair on edge. It was painful and full of rage.

.

Blinking, Yuriy covered his eyes. When he opened them, the light was gone but he could still see specks of orange flickering every time he blinked. Looking around he saw Julia on the ground a few feet away from him, a blond stranger standing over her. He ran to her.

He could see the blood from a gash on her arm. "Julia." He called his voice uncertain. She moaned. He could tell that she was shaking and crying. He brushed away her hair and noticed her eyes were snapped shut, the tears leaking. "We're fine. We're okay. You're okay." He told her softly.

"She's in shock." The stranger told him as he knelt next to her and took a look at her arm. "Made by one of their claws." He muttered to himself.

Yuriy watched him with suspicion. "Who are you?"

From behind him he could feel Boris and Sergei approaching. "What was that light?"

The stranger looked at them and zeroed his gaze to something behind them, turning they saw Emily running towards them, Kai following a distance behind her, wary but there was something different about him.

It was then that Sergei noticed that it was brighter around them, like pale moonlight, flickering around them.

"They are still around." The stranger told him, as he cleaned Julia's arm. "They will attack again without the light."

"What are they?" Yuriy asked, as he stared at Julia's wound. "I've never encountered anything like this."

"They are eaters, different names they have. From where I am from we call them night walkers. Their other famous name is sanelka." The stranger looked up to him then, and Yuriy frowned.

"They are rumored to eat children." Yuriy said at length. The stranger nodded.

"Oh my god, is she okay?" Emily asked as she dropped next to Yuriy, breathing heavily. He turned then, to see Kai a few feet away from them. His shadows were darker and they seemed to writhe in the light.

"She will be." The stranger told her.

"Who are you?" Emily asked with no preamble, "Did you save us?" She was about to ask more but Yuriy's hand on her shoulder stopped her. She glared sharply at him.

"But what are they doing here? They told me I had a charm." The stranger smiled mysteriously then.

The raven cawed again, and they all saw as it landed on the stranger's shoulder.

"There," He said at length.

"Is she going to wake up?" Emily asked as she looked at her friend. Her arm, bandaged. She was still shaking though.

"Soon enough. But first let us deal with our creepy friends." The stranger held laughter in his voice, in everything he said, there seemed to be a note of amusement and wisdom. He held his staff high, voiced an incantation and they all saw as five things crawled from the trees towards them.

Their eyes were bright red; the skin around their face was peeling, cracking and falling off. It was the same throughout their body. Green hues and blood caked to their fingers which were like sharp nails. Their hair was black, slimy and stringy. They growled and wailed at them, revealing double rows of sharp teeth, with dried blood. Their mouths, when opened were huge, one snap, and Yuriy was sure an arm, leg or even a head would be gone.

Emily looked at them with revulsion etched on her features. She couldn't stop looking at their hands, four fingers long and spindly but sharp and red in color. But it was their faces, with shattering skin that fell around them, that made her shiver. "That's not their skin?"

"No," the stranger answered. "They take the skin of their victims and cover themselves in it. The ones they have on are old, and so they are decomposing." He murmured something else, something soft and the brightness of the staff in creased. The creatures wailing even more. From the corner of his eye, the stranger could see, Kai flinching.

One of the sanelka at that moment, wailed and ran towards them.

"It's fast." Boris said as he stepped back. But it was only thrown back, and he noticed that the stranger had put up his hand in a stopping motion.

"Yes, they're very fast. They like to feed on children mostly, but they've done away with all the inhabitants of this town."

Sergei looked at him shocked, "All of them?"

The stranger nodded. "Now, stand behind me. I must send these down to the darkness, to the plane where they came from." He said something in a strange language that reminded them all of a windy day, his hand that held the staff was held up high once more and the light from it was directed at the creatures, whose stolen skin was falling. It revealed ashy, grayish skin that appeared to burn with the light.

"Fight them, and last until day break and they will turn to dust." The stranger told them. "Unfortunately our red sun won't do anything."

Emily and Sergei cringed at their wails, sharp and horrible they were. They writhed on the ground, screaming and scratching at the ground and at their bodies, drawing forth green blood. Then it stopped and all that was left was ashes.

The light from the staff shone but not as brightly. Julia, now in Yuriy's arms, moaned softly before opening her eyes.

"Yuriy" she said softly before her eyes widened and she started panicking.

"It's alright dear, you're safe now." The stranger told her as he laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Did you help us?" She whispered as Yuriy put her down and helped her stand.

"Yeah, who are you?" Emily asked again, turning to him.

"You're a wizard. You're bird has been following us." Kai said and they all turned to look at him. His face however was impassive and his gaze rested solely on the staff and its light.

"Yes I am. I set out a while ago to come and find you. I sent Levianros out to scout the terrain and call me if he saw you were in trouble. Can't have you all dying before you reach the castle."

Yuriy frowned. "How do you know where we're going? What's your name?" He demanded. He didn't like not knowing things, and this powerful stranger made him anxious.

The stranger smiled at them, his smile soft and sharp at the same time. "I am Romero. A wizard and this raven is Levianros. At your service." And he gave them a bow.

Boris snorted, and looked at him. "So you just came out of nowhere? I doubt that. How do we know you're not a spy?"

Romero simply smiled though, "You can trust me. I came to find you, the land told me of your coming and that something was different this time around. In any case, you're taking too long and I am here merely to guide you and help you get to the castle."

Turning to Yuriy he said, "It's not enough to simply follow a path. You must be sure of it, know where it will lead you otherwise the path itself will lead you astray. I have been waiting for this day, son of Novae, for a very long time."

At Yuriy's shocked looked he nodded, "Yes, I knew your mother."

Julia looked from Yuriy to Romero. She hadn't known Yuriy's mother's name. Or his father's.

"That's not enough," Boris interjected but Yuriy stopped him.

"You must be older than me then, Boris and Sergei are older than everyone here except me."

Boris and Sergei exchanged glances.

"Yes. I am. I am not surprised at your age; the line of Kings from this land always lived longer than the average man. The first King, born from an elf maiden and a human, having sailed the seas to settle and conquer this land." Emily seemed on the verge of interrupting but Romero shook his head.

"All in due time. We must move. It is bad luck to stay where the remains of a sanelka lie, and night is moving from us. We need to rest."

There was a silence around them, before Yuriy nodded and began to move forward, his arm around Julia, who would shiver every once in a while, Emily following behind them but not before giving Romero one last glance. Boris and Sergei looked at Romero with slight distrust, but he only smiled at them. "It is my duty to see the prince safely to the castle and aid in whatever way I can, as I am sure both of you are doing."

Sergei nodded at him then, camaraderie forming between them for Yuriy's sake. Besides there were many things Sergei wanted to know. Boris, far more distrusting only turned to walk away.

Finally it was just him and Kai, as he'd wanted. Kai remained unmoving, staring at the staff and its soft glow, it emitted warmth and comfort. His shadows screeched at it. "I must say it is a surprise to see you here."

Kai said nothing and moved to walk away. "All your fire is gone, Kai Hiwatari."

Kai looked at him then and then at his staff, it had been a while since he had heard his last name. The light in the staff flared and Kai flinched, confirming Romero's earlier suspicion. "The sacred fire burns you doesn't it?"

Kai glared at him, but Romero could discern the pain in that anger and hatred.

"The sacred fire, it was the start of everything." Kai told him, the words were full of bitterness and Romero felt sad. Kai walked away then, careful to step away from the halo of light, his shadows demanded it of him.

Romero sighed then, and walked, his raven speaking to him in a long forgotten language. "I know Levianros, those shadows and the fire will come to a clash when the Dragon comes."

.

They walked, following Romero's guidance, until they had left the town and the valley behind and were on the slopes of hills. There they rested and waited for dawn. He tended to Julia's wounded arm, once more and to the minor scratches along her body. Yuriy watched everything in silence, but his mind was exploding with questions. Questions about his mother, but mostly about the father he never knew.

The night was quiet, and it was unsettling, simply because it was such a contrast to the screaming and wailing of the dead sanelki. Romero's staff had stopped emitting that strange glow and so the warmth vanished. But he had casted spells around them, to keep them safe.

But Boris still felt unsafe, the darkness from Kai had grown and his shadows took forms of their own, wraith like and sharp and they billowed as if on wind. But there was no wind. It made him shiver and feel cold and clammy. He wondered what had happened, on that hill.

Sergei was content to simply lie down and rest after that frightening experience. He thought back to the wizard's words. There were so many things they didn't know. Most people in the land knew that they were under a spell and that only the rightful heir could save them. That was all he had known, what his father had told him before killing himself out of retched grief. But that idea was fading, people forgot and thought that this land was as it had always been. He wondered then about the people in the north, the ones from Novae's kingdom, cursed to long winter and unproductive summers and falls and springs.

Kai had watched as Romero used the sacred fire to help in his casting. The warmth of that fire, it had reminded him of so many things. Bright, beautiful things but it had been that same fire, in its warmth and glow that had led him to choose a dark cold path. Now all that remained were the shadows and memories of a time before.

.

Yuriy watched the sun rise, above the smoke. He had slept little, with Julia shaking and waking up due to nightmares. He could only imagine what they were about as she laid whimpering and trembling. He had to often wake her up. But it wasn't just Julia's nightmares that kept him up, but his own. His own memories had kept him up. Ice cold, he had felt through the night as he recalled blizzards and cold cold sun.

It made his heart ache, ache with words and faces he couldn't remember. Silent lullabies and soft spoken words ran through his mind, unclear like the murky water that they drank. What did he know of kingdoms? What did he know of royalty? All he knew of those things were blood, death and coldness, scars that often opened and bleed again, wounds that never healed. The feelings churned inside him, filling him with hate and anger and sadness.

"You didn't sleep did you?" Romero's voice was light, like the breeze that started blowing. It carried weariness and laughter.

"No. I couldn't. I remembered nights full of soldiers, and screams. I remember her, vaguely."

Romero nodded. "Your mother had been lovely. Very beautiful."

Yuriy sneered and shrugged. Her image was blurring at the edges, fading slowly, crinkling like Emily's hair and ready to fall to pieces in his memory, to dust. It had taken him years to calm his anger, his outrage and feelings of betrayal. As he had grown up in his mother's kingdom, he had often picked fights with the soldiers, but they would only laugh at him and call him a poor orphan boy. They never knew who he was. But all Yuriy at the age of six knew, was that they had taken his mother away, they had taken away love and comfort and warmth and so he would cry bitter tears.

He chuckled, at the memory and wondered where his anger had gone. In a cold land, that only grew colder, the vow of a six year old boy had been everything, the difference between life and death because he had vowed to avenge his mother and her land.

He wondered now, as he stared at the reddish haze, how it was that he had forgotten and lost his conviction.

"Well?" Romero asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. His raven was looking at him with a steady gaze.

Yuriy smiled. It took him years to forget, and this wizard with the simple act of naming her, had reminded him. "Lead the way. I've wasted enough time."

.

Notes: Yay! A new character, who did you guys think it was? Well, I have good news, since I want to finish updating this by the end of the month I will be posting a new chapter you will get an update today, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ain't that great? Then we'll go with every other day updates. Lyrics at the top are from _Reverse of Shade_ by The Windupdeads.

Thanks for reading. And remember, please review.


	8. VIII

**VIII.**

_There's no more need to pretend  
Cause now I can begin again_

.

They continued to follow the path with Romero's lead and they went faster than they had before the wizard had joined them. His raven, Levianros, would often fly ahead to scout their path, lest they run into sanelki or other creatures Romero told them were abroad.

The days were red, and only became redder at sunset, painting the skyline in blood. Julia's nightmares had receded and she no longer woke up screaming and asking for help. It had been days since they had left that ghost village and the dust of the sanelki.

They nights in the mountain were cold, full of icy fingers and damp wind. Their cloaks hardly gave them warmth. They would often light a fire, as the glow in Romero's staff that they had seen that first night, didn't return. Emily and Julia agreed that it was the warmest thing they had felt, the most comfort they had known in all their years together and in those when they had not known each other.

Their days were occupied with walking the brown path, the mountains and the trees no longer spoke to them, they no longer whispered, they no longer mocked. The pines had given way to rocks, and small thorny shrubbery and yellow grass.

They got water from wherever they could, in small villages, mostly. They had passed many tiny towns, at one point Romero had told them that they had been bigger, full of people. But as time went on, as the spell continued, some left and others died. The ones that left left in search of better places.

"Others," he began as they left behind the small village, the children running out to see them. Strangers were really uncommon. "others left and went in search of the prince. They scouted the land, went to the north even, to Novae's Kingdom. But they never found him. They had never seen him. They didn't know what he looked like."

Romero would tell them little things here and there, most of the time he just chatted about the land, the sun or the state of things. His voice always carried that laughter though; it made Julia wonder how it was that it could have cheer.

In certain villages, to get more food, he would put on a show of magic. It wasn't in every village though. He chose which ones carefully. He told them, on a windy night, when they had lighted no fire, that it had to do with how the first person they saw received them. He explained no more.

Then on a full moon, they finally left the mountains and the night that greeted them was warm and soft. There was no wind or chill that night, and no need for a fire. They rested at the foothills of the mountains. Kai throughout that whole time, followed behind them, not close to them but not very far.

Boris had noticed that his shadows were sharper, and the edges glinted whenever the moonshine caught them. His eyes were apathetic and dark, and Boris often felt that if he stared long enough, he would be pulled inside a black hole.

.

"I'm glad you joined us." Emily stated one night, as they sat around flat land. The hills were gone and so were the mountains, there was nothing but flat land all around them, full of tall yellow grass that swayed with no wind. Yuriy, Boris and Sergei were a ways away from them, closer to the road, speaking. Kai was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh?" Romero answered as he smiled.

Emily nodded. "At first, I thought we would never reach the castle. But now, we are already at the farmlands, we'll reach the forest soon, won't we?"

Julia looked at Emily before turning her gaze to the yellow billowing grass. It danced before her, as if hearing a soft song that she couldn't.

"Why is it that you have to come with us?" She asked as she looked at the wizard, "Why does your voice have so much cheer? How can you be happy in a place like this?"

Romero looked at her then, from her gritty brown hair and orange bangs, and bright dull green eyes. "What more is there to do?" He asked her. He knew that she wouldn't take his answer, that her anger was too strong and too sharp even for herself.

"Everyone lost something when the spell was cast," he began, "for them only the memory of the good times remained, memories of things lost and forgotten. But for the children that hardly remembered, well they couldn't mourn. So tell me Julia, what is it you mourn? You never saw the pale silver moon, or the golden sun. You were born long into the spell."

Julia narrowed her eyes and looked away. "I don't mourn anything." She told him stiffly. But Romero could see her shoulders shaking from rage and sadness. Romero could always see the sadness in these kids. It was sad, he thought, what Tao had done.

"Then why are you here?" he asked softly, no laughter in his tone, just mild curiosity but not for himself. "You are quick to judge Yuriy, quick to dismiss the reasons why he never took this road seriously. But tell me Julia, why are you here?"

"Does it matter?" Julia snapped back, "Why do you care?"

Romero smiled and shrugged. "I don't. But you do and yes it matters a lot. Everyone here has reasons for having started this quest, even Kai. If you don't know what they are, why you are here, then there isn't anything to gain. Just wasted time."

Julia sighed, but her anger remained. It was always there. It had always been there since she had been a little girl. Raul had been the calmer one. She had always been angry, angry at her parents, at the lost children, at Raul and Yuriy.

Emily looked at Julia, then to Romero who was simply smiling. His smile was soft at the edges, full of compassion. Romero never judged anything they said, he would laugh and always switch or direct the conversation to something soft and rose-colored with blunt edges. It made Emily want to cry most of the time.

She had never met anyone like Romero; everyone in the land was harsh and cold. Judy had been like him, but Judy also had her harsh moments. It had been Max, who had been soft, and warm comforting. Max, who would often see the moon and tell Emily to imagine the moonlight to be a different color, to imagine it a shade lighter. To imagine the world softer, gentler, kinder. He had no doubt that there were people out there like him.

Max had been right, Hiromi had been like that. All clear eyes and hopeful heart. It was just how the girl was, kind, loving and cheerful. Laughter often bubbled from her. Hiromi spoke of crystal dreams with pale castles and flowers of different colors. Of birds and gentle trees that still spoke and would tell you about the old world if you asked nicely enough. She and Julia would laugh, but not with ill intent. Max would follow her lead, and together they would paint a bright bright world full of color and laughter. The moon would be pale, the sky as blue as Max's eyes and the sun as gold as his hair. The trees would be as brown as Hiromi's hair and snow would be as pale as Kai, Hiromi would joke when he would join them.

She looked around then, to find Kai, but she couldn't. She figured the shadows of the night had engulfed him.

"How is it that you know so much?" Emily found herself asking. "Is it because you're a wizard?"

Romero closed his eyes. "Not so much that. Not really. I don't know much. I simply know what has been lost. Things that people no longer speak about, things and thoughts that have been forgotten."

Emily nodded silently. Yuriy approached then, along with Boris and Sergei.

"And I have a duty, entrusted to me by my teacher. He was a powerful wizard, he came to be archmage during his time, he was known as Tao and he was the one who cast the spell over the land." The words were heavy; they carried such weight for all of them. But in Romero's lips they floated down, gently as if they were just words about some other spell in some other land.

Emily looked at Yuriy, who was staring silently into the darkness. "What was it?" He asked quietly.

"Not time for that yet, Yuriy." Romero told him, his voice kind, like his face, his youthful face. "We must rest, we'll come across some marshlands soon and I'd rather we walk them through than be forced to rest near them."

No one said anything then. They had learned that Romero would not continue the conversation, no matter how hard one tried.

.

The flat land continued on, with hills in the distance. They passed bigger towns, and the days seemed longer and very monotonous, as if they were repeating the same thing over and over and over again. Kai walked behind them all the time, avoiding Romero's staff and the light he knew lived in it. A light so warm and full of bright memories, that in the end hadn't been able to help him when he had needed it most.

Throughout the days, Romero would always speak, always talk about himself and the land but he never revealed anything of importance. For all that he said, Kai realized, that the wizard never said much. He had noticed also, that Yuriy's steps were firmer and that the path no longer mocked them. Whatever had happened on the night when Yuriy's mother's name was spoken, he would never know. But he knew that there was a beginning unfolding before the bastard king.

He also often caught Boris looking at him with apprehension and mistrust. He would smirk at him then, full of malice and contempt. Boris would turn around quickly, unnerved. That was how he spent the days. In the nights, the shadows would grow and would engulf him in cold dark water. Romero had been right, all his fire was gone.

In the deep corners of his mind, where all their memories were stored he could hear Kinomiya and Hiromi laughing. The sound was sweet, tender and full of brightness. But the laughter was fading from him, crumbling into shards and he knew he wouldn't be able to put them back together.

At dusk one day, they passed a small village. Romero made them stop for a moment before they were able to move on. He murmured something to the passing wind, and the wind in response flew around them until they had left the town in the distance. There was a witch there, he told them at length, and a harpy ready to unleash vengeance upon her. It had made them all shudder.

Little dark creatures scurried around them in the shadows, on some nights. They crawled and hissed and laughed. But they never ventured forth. Yuriy wasn't sure if it was because of Romero or because Kai's darkness could swallow them whole.

Romero would sing sometimes, sing songs about princes and princesses, and about travelers trying to find a way back home. They would stay in villages sometimes, and sometimes some of the men would sing with Romero, while the women stared at them in awe.

Sergei came to notice that many people would stare at Yuriy. But the stares no longer burned him or cut him. He no longer tried to hide from the heated and curious gazes.

At length, they reached the marshlands early one morning and they seemed to stretch far in the distance.

"We must be quick, before the fireflies come out." That was the only thing he told them, and it was rushed and full of anxiousness.

Sergei turning to Boris simply said, "I don't remember marshlands."

Boris shook his head, "Neither do I."

They walked then, following Romero's brisk pace, unsure as to why he was so anxious of the fireflies.

"I'm never seen a firefly." Emily told him as she caught up with him.

"These, are fireflies you don't want to see. They are not real fireflies; these are the spirits of the dead, playing tricks on travelers."

Emily looked to the marshlands, to the tall grasses and the water.

Kai didn't care for it. He had enough spirits and ghosts in his head and his memories to care about and fear fireflies and sanelki and harpies. What scared Kai, was sleep.

Julia stared at the marshlands, and wondered if what Romero said was true, would the spirit of her brother be among the lights when night fell? Part of her wanted to remain there to see, and the other wanted to run away, far away. She wanted to see the person who had mattered most in her life. Thinking about him left her chest gaping open and hurt. Her hands would sting as a reminder of how she failed. She hated herself for it, hated Raul for leaving and hated Yuriy for being late.

Though they tried to walk at a brisk pace, dusk caught them still by the marshes. Lights, one by one began glowing. Romero wondered if it would be better to stay or keep going. "Come on, we have to keep walking."

But the lights, Emily thought, were beautiful. This was the most beautiful thing she had seen in their red world. They shone brightly, like she imagined the stars had at some point. They lay above the water, illuminating the dark.

"Do they pull you in?" Emily asked breathlessly.

Romero looked at her, smiled sadly and said, "What is it doing to you now?"

Emily shook her head, "Calling. It's the beauty isn't it? Because something so beautiful doesn't exist in our world."

Romero nodded.

Kai stared at the lights, and the laughter that it carried, the laughter that sounded so much like them. But Kai had memories. Memories that were sharp, that reminded him in the cold dark nights of what he had lost. Those memories had taught him that there was no return and so he walked past the lights, ignoring their beauty.

Julia stared at them, and stopped. She thought of dream illusions and puffy white clouds, of castles in the sky and Raul. She wanted so badly to reach for them, to fall into them and find her twin. She almost did, but a cold hand stopped her. She was ready to snap and yell but when she turned she was met with Kai's dark gaze.

He shook his head and pulled her. "Don't be stupid." He told her coldly. He stared at her a bit longer and then let her go. He walked ahead of her and she could feel herself falling.

All she had ever wanted when she was little had been love, as did most of the lost children.

Yuriy came behind her then, "Are you okay?" his voice was soft, caring and she shook him off. She didn't need it now. She ran ahead, to Emily's side and grasped her hand. In some ways, Emily was stronger than she had ever been.

Romero called to them then, asking them to hurry. The lights only grew brighter, illuminating the damp darkness that coiled around them. It filled the silence with a soft murmur. It was eerie, because it seemed that a soft song was floating in the wind.

"You're taking us through a different road." Yuriy told him. "I don't remember marshlands."

"Yes. This one is faster." The wizard replied. The murmur began again, drifting over them in cool gentle tones that glimmered.

"What is it?" Boris asked, as he tried really hard to concentrate on the road before him. But it was hard, the murmur was calling.

"A song of the dead." Romero told them. "Don't pay it any mind."

"Kinda hard not too." Sergei snapped back.

Romero chuckled. "It does sound rather nice, but it's a lament, for lives lost. Very sad actually."

At that moment, Levianros cawed above them and the murmur vanished. He landed gracefully on Romero's shoulder. "Don't worry everyone, we're almost through."

Levianros would caw occasionally, dispelling the mists that would cloud their senses and at length, they reached dry flat land again and not too far they could see the slopes of hills. "The forest," Romero told them. "We're on its west side, we won't be there for long before we reach the coast."

Emily's heart was pounding, so was Yuriy's and it seemed as if they would burst.

.

As they sat inside a small tavern, who had offered them food after Romero's show, Emily wondered how much time had passed. It seemed as if it had been years since she had last seen the city and the temple. She wondered if another sacrifice had been made and if other girls had been scouted and brought to the marble staircase. She thought then of Max, blissfully asleep dreaming of pastel colors and blazing golden dawns.

She looked at Yuriy then, who was speaking quietly with Julia. She also noticed Kai watching them rather keenly and with pity before leaving.

"Tell me Emily," Romero began as he sat back down. "what brought you here? Why do I always see clouds in your eyes?"

She remained silent, aware that Boris and Sergei were looking at her. Those two, she had realized during the journey, were a curious lot. She looked at Romero, and his gentle clear blue eyes made her think of Salima.

"I have a friend." She started at length, because Romero reminded her of Max and Judy so much that it was painful. "He…He got sick. One of our neighbors, a witch, put him to sleep. She said there was no way to cure him, since the plants and flowers needed hadn't grown due to the spell. She casted a spell and made him sleep till pale moonlight shone and water ran clear and bright."

"In other words, when the spell was broken." She looked at Boris and nodded.

"That the king would be able to heal him, as was his birthright, to be able to heal." Romero raised his brows at that sentence.

He chuckled, "I'm surprised that bit of knowledge has survived."

Emily smirked, "I tried to find out as much as I could. But it wasn't much."

By that time, Yuriy and Julia were looking at her. "Max?" Yuriy asked her softly. Julia nodded.

Their hands were interlaced, with no feelings of hate coming between them. Yuriy sighed then. He hadn't known, though he had wondered what had happened to the blond boy.

Outside, Kai stared at the shadows of the trees, and his shadows screeched and moaned. "I know. We're getting close." He whispered. His words floated up to the smoky wisps in the sky. He breathed in deeply, and exhaled.

.

The forest was made of redwoods, tall and grey and brown. At one point, Yuriy knew that they had been green. Romero walked beside him. There had been no more talk about anything, nothing about his father or his mother. No matter how hard he tried to pry information.

"You know," Yuriy began at length, "about the Dragon?"

Everyone behind them, except Kai, paid them keen attention.

"The Dragon. I know about the Dragon." There was a twinkle in his eye that Yuriy did not understand.

"The Dragon is the reason why the Usurper is so powerful. When your mother's kingdom fell, other kingdoms tried to lay claim on it. The Usurper fought and war broke out between different Kingdoms vying for the land, not only your mother's but your father's as well."

Romero looked at the road then, at the path that snaked around trees. "I don't know when it happened or how but the Usurper came across the Dragon. Once the Dragon was his it was easy to defeat his enemies. He had no more need for an army, after all the Dragon did all it asked."

"It's that powerful?" Yuriy asked him.

Romero nodded.

"Have you seen it?" he ventured again. "I've seen its destruction."

But Romero didn't answer. He merely hummed to himself. "We should reach a village soon."

Yuriy wanted to demand an answer. But he bit his tongue.

On they continued to walk, this time in silence as Romero did not speak anymore. True to his word, they did come to a village, but it was empty. They left it and continued on their way, the rushing of water alerted them that there must be a river somewhere but they couldn't see anything. The road continued heading west.

.

It was on a night with a crescent moon that they reached the edge or what would have been the edge of the woods. For there was nothing but broken trees, scattered and the soil was upturned. The destruction was heavy, and far away they could hear the ocean.

"There is a coastal town nearby." Romero told them, and they wondered about the destruction at the edge of the forest. Yuriy, Boris and Sergei knew what it was.

"This, it was the Dragon." It was a statement and Romero agreed.

"Yes." Nothing was left standing, everything was ripped to its roots, the yellow grass and weeds were flattened.

Emily and Julia stared in dismay and for the first time felt fear. Their hearts sank with misgivings. It had seemed simple far away in their city, to think of this Dragon as nothing too threatening. It was then that Julia understood why one would hesitate. Her heart lurched and she grasped Emily's hand tightly.

But Kai simply stared at the broken trees and remembered a similar scene but instead of broken trees, there were shattered houses, people and bright red blood, and among them the body of Kinomiya Takao.

.

Notes: Yay! Another update. Haha. We finally see what the Dragon is capable of doing. We found out how Takao/Tyson died. Pretty sad don't you think? Lyrics at the top belong to the Smashing Pumpkins and their song _the beginning is the end is the beginning_.


	9. IX

**IX**_**.**_

_These lines the last endeavor  
To find the missing lifeline_

.

The town was quiet when they reached it. The only sounds came from an inn, whose wood was so dilapidated and grey. The town was quite big, with grey streets snaking around houses and shops. It rested quite near the beach, and a harbor lay north of it. But the ships were torn, old and rotting, their sails yellow and limp.

Romero sighed, "Look north," he told them and indicated with his index finger high up, where they could see cliffs and the shadow of something monstrous, up in the sky. "The castle."

Yuriy held his breath. He could see from here, a few miles north the outline of the castle, high above the cliffs. The sight sent a chill down his spine, as if they had poured a bucked full of ice down his shirt. His heart beat laboriously. In that castle, his father had reign once. He let out a shaky exhale and felt Romero's hand on his shoulder. Looking at him, Romero offered him a kind look.

"Come on." He told them all as he led them in direction of the inn. "I think we should have something to drink and eat."

Kai stayed behind. His shadows, wraith-like twirled around him. They murmured and moaned as they coiled around him tightly, almost choking him. But he paid them no mind, as he stared at the castle, a castle that had been cold and dark. Shaking his head, he followed after them.

The inn was warm, in contrast to the cold outside. There wasn't much light, the flame in the lanterns flickered weakly.

"Romero! You're back!" A cheerful old innkeeper greeted. "And you brought guests!"

"Hello Howard. Yes, indeed we have guests. Now if it isn't much trouble-"

"Say no more, Romero. Have a seat anywhere and I'll have Akira bring some bread and cheese, ale and wine."

Romero smiled and nodded. Turning to them he said, "Cheerful isn't he?"

He received no response and sighed. "Come now let's sit down. There is much to talk about."

The inn was empty and felt lonely. Romero knew that it had known better times and good people, happy times when the town had been prosperous. But now it was nothing but lonely, sad and grey. It creaked in the wind and moaned in the rain. It would shudder, as all buildings did, when the castle rose each night. The wind rasped at the windows, as if asking if it could come inside into the warmth.

"So what is it?" Yuriy asked as they sat around a round table.

Romero hummed. "Everything I guess." There was a twinkle to his eye again, and Yuriy felt anxious. Akira arrived then, and set a plate of cheese and bread on the table. Akira was tall, tanned and had grimy blond hair. But on his face was a small smile. "I'll bring the ale and wine."

It was then that it happened, that the building shook and a great roar was heard. The building trembled, and seemed to fold unto itself. The roar was loud and Julia felt as if chasms opened beneath her. She scrambled to keep her composure as she held on to her arms of her chair tightly.

"What was that? The Dragon?" Boris asked as he looked frantically around.

Romero watched them all carefully. His eyes resting on Kai, who was looking back at him impassively as if this didn't bother him at all. At length he answered, "Yes. That was indeed the Dragon."

The faces that looked back at him were pale almost translucent. "The Dragon has never come to the town." Akira told them as he served them a pitcher of ale.

"It goes mostly into the forest, to the old lands that once belonged to the nobility."

"You've seen it?" Yuriy asked Akira, his eyes betraying his anxiousness.

"No. No one has." Akira told him softly. His eyes were cast down, they were pools of liquid brown and he shook his head before leaving them again.

The silence seemed oppressing, coiling around them and bringing coldness with it and doubt. Julia stared at her cup, and shivered. She could feel the icy touches of the silence play with her heartstrings, plucking notes of cowardice. She wanted to look at Yuriy, but her pride wouldn't let her.

"You will tell me everything!" Yuriy's voice rose with frustration etched on it. Romero looked at him, as if studying him. There was a hard glint to his blue eyes, his red hair pulled back into a low ponytail, seemed darker in the low light. Romero knew that Yuriy would not take no for an answer.

"Yes, I suppose it is time. Now that we have come this far, so close to the usurper and the Dragon, there is no turning back." This he said as he looked at everyone and they all felt the weight of his stare. There was no gentleness in his eyes, they were grim. The cheer of his words was also gone, all that remained was a cold formality.

He sighed then, a sigh that was so weary it was breaking at the edges, crumbling as it reached them. They could see then, a weariness that had been missing before. It was in his eyes, in the lines around them and in his posture. But he still seemed young and it was disconcerting to see such weariness in someone who looked so young. But then again, Julia had glimpsed that same weariness in Yuriy, and Yuriy also looked youthful.

Yuriy waited, but his patience was thinning. "Well?" He demanded. He was so close to knowing. All he had until now were pieces of a puzzle, in which so many things were missing.

It seemed that it snapped Romero from whatever memory he had been lost in. "Right." He said. He chewed on his lip for a bit. Then looking at Yuriy's glinting blue eyes, he took a deep breath and began. "Your father, King at the time, was to marry your mother. The idea was to unite the kingdoms. The marriage however, never happened and your father was murdered the year you were born, by his brother and his wife. Tao, your mother and I fled from the castle that night.

"From that moment on, Tao and I remained with Novae, with only news of what was taking place here. We feared that your uncle and aunt would try to kill you and your mom. As it so happened, your uncle was killed in a hunting accident, and because your cousin Mariam had only just been born, your aunt became Regent with the captain of the guard acting as her advisor.

"The land was in turmoil, they had lost two kings and so quickly. It was easy for your aunt to convince the people that your mother had conspired to kill both your father and uncle. Once that was done, it was easy to declare war. On the eve of your fourth birthday, as you may or may not remember, the castle was stormed and your mother killed. Tao and I took you away, as we had planned, in order to save you. Your aunt and the captain wanted to kill you so that you may not reclaim the throne that rightfully belonged to you and not your cousin."

Romero stopped then, and looked out the window, to the rising fog. "I left you with Scott, one of your mother's advisors and left with Tao to face your aunt. Because your aunt and the captain attempted to kill you, Tao cursed them and the land. It was a curse so powerful, that it left Tao near death. The last of his power he used on me, to live and not age until the prince came to reclaim the throne. Only then, would the spell on the land break."

Yuriy's hands were clenched so tightly his nails broke his skin.

"I came back to find you and Scott, but as I was being hunted as well, I only placed a charm on you and left, explaining as much as I could to Scott so that he may tell you when he saw it prudent."

Yuriy bowed his head. His eyes closed shut.

"That was when the whole thing began? How the land came to be as it is now?" Sergei asked his voice low and cautious.

"Yes. It was a gradual change, crops started failing, trade began to decline as the seas became stormy all year long, too dangerous for ships from the archipelago to come. Besides, there was hardly anything to trade. The smoke from the pillaging of villages and towns by other kingdoms brought forth the ashes. It was during that time, that the captain and his army took power and killed your aunt. He then took the land away from the aristocracy."

"But it's cold in the north." Boris muttered.

Romero looked at Yuriy, whose hands were shaking, his shoulders were tense. "Yes. The spell reached Novae's kingdom, and brought frost and longer, harsher winters. It also didn't allow people to flee; they were to remain rooted in this land."

Romero thought back to Tao, and the conviction in which his words were uttered had left Romero feeling cold and lonely. He had asked how he was sure the prince would come, what if he didn't? What if he failed? Tao had looked at him then, with his wise eyes that were always so calm and full. He will come, Tao had told him, it is his destiny and he will forever be reminded of it with no moment of peace.

_He will come then, Romero, seeking retribution or death. But he will come._

Yuriy stood up then, and the room became even more still. His insides were churning violently. His voice, shook as he spoke, "What was the captain's name?"

Kai tensed but only Romero noticed it, everyone else was focused on Yuriy.

"Tell me." There was a violence that was threatening to escape, that wanted to destroy all who had wronged him.

"His name is Borg." Romero said quietly. "King Borg."

He was shaking, and Romero knew it was from rage, a silent rage that was flowing and boiling in his veins. Without saying anything he left, slamming the door shut behind him. Julia jumped and looked in his direction. Standing up she made to go after him but Romero stopped her. "Let him go."

She looked at him with wide eyes; he could tell she was scared. She nodded slowly and sat down again. There was deep stillness in the room then. No one spoke. It was into this oppressing silence that Howard walked in, "So, I take it things went well?"

Romero smiled, "As well as they could have gone."

Boris and Sergei frowned. "You know?"

"I know some things, not all. In any case, Romero, I contacted the four earlier today. They will come tomorrow."

"Good." Romero murmured.

"Will you tell us what this is about?" Boris demanded.

"I will. But not tonight. You heard Howard, they're coming tomorrow." Romero sighed then. Tired. He hadn't felt this tired since that dark night, when Novae died. "You should all rest."

"We set up rooms for you all."Howard told them, as he motioned to the stairs.

Boris stared at Romero hard, still unsure about the wizard. But followed when Sergei motioned him forwards. Emily tugged at Julia silently, until she acquiesced. But Kai remained sitting at the table, staring intently at Romero. Howard left them shortly after.

"I take it you don't sleep." Romero told him softly as he cradled his cup. "You won't be coming with us to the castle, will you?"

Kai said nothing. He stared at the splintery table, dark brown and weak. "No."

"I thought as much. He knows you doesn't he?"

Kai looked at the window then and at the fog outside and felt chills go down his spine. _You'll regret this Kai, you'll regret it._

But Romero didn't press and they both remained in silence until the blond wizard stood up and left the inn. Kai remained there till the lamps burned out. He thought then of his grandfather and old man Daitenji, of Takao Kinomiya and Hiromi Tachibana. All of them very much dead and all of them ghosts in the land of his memory.

.

Romero felt the chill the moment he stepped out. The fog fell around the city like a blanket. He could hear the waves crashing on the sand. He thought about Tao then, as he often did on foggy nights. He thought about Novae and the dead King. But what had often plagued him were thoughts of Tao and of Yuriy. Young, confused Yuriy as he was placed in his arms by his mother. Yuriy had cried then, unsure of all the commotion, of the screams and why his mother was crying.

He sighed deeply, letting go of all the years he had held to himself. He came to the harbor then and to the lone figure standing there, amid the rotten planks.

"Scott never told me much." Yuriy said as Romero approached. His voice was sad though, full of regret and tears and years, so many years. Romero could hear it clearly. "Our town was attacked that night, unexpectedly. He told me only that I was a prince. That I was to break the spell. That my aunt and the captain were responsible for everything. He died that night. I was left with a couple of soldiers that had once served my mother."

From then on all he had known were cold nights and cold tears. Whatever warmth the old soldier could bring him, as his prince was given. But the land was harsh and growing colder each day, with soldiers of the enemy plundering the towns.

"They were looking for me, weren't they? During those early years. I remember the soldiers, the screams."

"Yes. They were. Your aunt, Kay, and Borg set out to find you. But Borg eventually killed Kay and took the throne, which I think had been his intention all along."

Yuriy swallowed the knot in his throat. "Mariam came looking for me."

Romero thought of ocean hair and green eyes, then the princess. "Yes. I sent her in your direction."

Yuriy smiled sardonically. "I had no idea who she was. She told me she was family. That she was sorry for everything that had happened. That we could make everything right. But I was so unsure. So tired."

Romero kept silent.

"I'm truly the last one aren't I?" Romero could feel the melancholy of that question wash over him.

"Last to the Ivanov line, yes."

"Why didn't you search for me? Try to bring me back?" Yuriy was looking at him now, his eyes pools of water.

"I thought about it. But it wouldn't have mattered. You can't force someone to do what they don't want to. I couldn't make you face this unless you wanted and were willing to face it, regardless of what grief it would cause. Tao told me, that you would come of your own will. That you would come to take the throne or to die."

Yuriy laughed then, harsh and grating. "How did you find me then? Now on this road? Why did you come this time and not the other times when I made that same pilgrimage?"

Romero turned to look at him then, his eyes serious. "Because Yuriy Ivanov, you brought with you shadows. With you came Kai Hiwatari. I knew then, that this would be the end for you and me or the beginning."

Yuriy narrowed his eyes, "Kai? What does he have to do with this?"

Romero looked at the ocean then, at the waves. "It is not your destiny to defeat the Dragon."

Yuriy laughed incredulous then, "Then there is no way to defeat the Usurper. You said the Dragon guards him!"

Romero nodded, his eyes intent on the waves he couldn't really see. "I did say that. Your destiny Yuriy, is to defeat Borg. The Dragon," and here he turned his grim eyes to Yuriy, "belongs to Kai. He is the only one who can face the Dragon and defeat it."

"Why?"

Romero smiled then, "It is not my place to tell Kai's story and why the shadows cling to him. If he wishes to say then he will. But I cannot do it." He turned to go then, his steps creaking on the rotten wood. His figure was lost then, to the fog and to the cold.

.

Kai sat still in the darkness of the inn. He smiled sardonically to himself. Everything, to think that everything in the end would lead him back to _him_. He sighed. He had been a fool, to think that he would ever be free of him. The shadows were proof of that, they chained him down and dragged him.

Light footsteps made him turn to see Julia walking to the front door. He closed his eyes, feeling pain resurface and he wondered how that was possible, since the last strings of his heart had been severed on that mountain.

His heart ached for Kinomiya and his words of family. It ached for Hiromi's pale castles and multi colored flowers. It ached for the lost friendship. He realized then with a strange sense of equanimity that his heart shred to pieces would never heal, that it would continue to hurt till the end of his days. He would forever live with the knowledge and regret of his actions.

He thought of Yuriy and Julia then and laughed. Laughed in delirium because he knew that they were doomed to fail, because only a miracle could save them and if there was one thing that the deaths of Hiromi and Kinomiya had taught him, besides bitter regret, was that there were no miracles in their ashy world. No fucking miracles.

.

She shivered as she walked into the cold. Her skin prickling with bumps. She had forgotten her cloak in the room. Her clothes felt damp. But she continued walking. Not sure where she was going, but she let her feet guide her. For some reason, she could always be aware of where Yuriy was. Her feet would always carry her to him.

She thought of Romero, and of the history of their land. She thought then of Raul and Hiromi and Judy and her parents and the lost children. Her anger, sharp and cutting had been a maelstrom in her chest. Building itself, growing and spreading like cancer, ever since her mother left her and Raul.

She reached what she assumed had been the harbor, but now it was nothing, just like everything else. He wasn't looking at her. But she was sure he had heard her footsteps. She hesitated for a moment before continuing and wrapping her arms around him, bringing him closer to her.

"You should be inside." The coldness in his voice made her ache. It was frosty and she felt the blood in her freeze. She wanted to say many things then. She wanted to apologize, to say she was sorry for being so selfish. But nothing came, not even when she opened her mouth. So she stood there cloaked in silence and it was so painful. She felt like shattering into a million tiny pieces.

He did not hug her back. He stood motionless in her arms. She wondered then, for how many years he had been alone before he met Boris and Sergei. She didn't know how old he was. He had never told her his exact age. All she knew was that he was older, much older than her. She felt foolish then and she couldn't help the tears that escaped and ran freely down her cold cheeks.

"Don't cry Julia." The gentle tone of his voice made her cry even more. She thought back to that night, to that blazing glittering fire. To the smoke and the ashes that rode in the wind. This magnificent person that had walked through fire when everyone else had stayed behind rooted to a spot with apathy and fear.

"You're cold. Let's go back inside." She let him lead her then. Afraid for the time when he would let her go. She continued crying, for herself and for him and for them and what they could have been in any other time and place.

.

Morning greeted them with fog and the stale smell of coffee. Things all of them were used to, except perhaps the cold ocean breeze. But the inn was warm as it had been the night before. Among them however, were five new people.

There was a solemn silence that hung above them. All of them, it seemed knew what was coming, and they were all anxious. Romero however, seemed completely at ease and happy. As everyone gathered near a table, Kai in the corner, he began to speak.

"I'm glad all of you could make it." He said, his voice smiling. He spoke to the five newcomers. Two of them who looked rather grim, shadows dancing in their eyes. The other three however, were full of curiosity.

"Yuriy, I would like for you to meet the heirs of the remaining nobility. Ralf Jurgens, Johnny McGregor, Giancarlo Tornatore, and Oliver Boulanger."

Yuriy remained silent. He wasn't sure what to expect from such strangers. He looked to the fifth person. Romero did not introduce him.

"It is a great honor to meet you. It is exciting to know that we are alive to see the end of such a terrible era." Yuriy looked at the speaker, Oliver.

"If I were you I wouldn't hope too much." He told them, the frost in his voice was still present, Julia noted.

"While Oliver here is the most excitable, I don't believe in anything until I see it with my own eyes." The redhead, Johnny replied.

"Well, now that we have that out the way, let me introduce Rei Kon, my apprentice." Romero continued, easily breaking the tension in the room.

Rei bowed before them then, a smile on his lips.

"Why exactly is everyone here?" Emily asked Romero.

Romero smiled again. "Because, we need to decide when we're setting off." His voice had that bouncy cheer again. It somewhat irritated Emily this morning.

It was then that Ralf spoke, "Rei and I, we are going to the city, to the temple of oracles. If the Prince is finally here, then the temple will easily fall once the castle crumbles."

Emily looked at him sharply. "If that is the case, if that is your quest, then I shall join you, for I seek my own vengeance with the High Priest."

Ralf raised an eyebrow in question. He wanted to dismiss the girl, but her chains and her conviction deterred him. Her eyes were glinting with a raging fire. A rage he understood would not be calmed unless she did what she had to do. He nodded carefully. Looking to Romero he said, "We are leaving today. The faster the better. We have some horses, not the best but they'll have to do."

Romero nodded. Everything seemed to be falling into place. "Right. I wish you luck." Turning to Emily he said, "You better gather your things."

Nodding she left quickly back to her room.

"We need everyone here simply because they will be needed once we start rebuilding." Romero began as he took a sip of his coffee, it was bitter and stale. But through the years he had gotten used to it.

Yuriy glanced at him then at the nobles. He wanted to laugh, but he didn't more resemble a prince than they did aristocrats. "It makes sense." He said. But he knew nothing about ruling. He wondered briefly if these boys, because that was what they were to him, knew about royalty. Was it something that their ancestors passed down to them? Generation to generation while he was out in the streets, fighting here and there with groups of rebels during his early years?

"Defeating him won't be easy, not with the Dragon." Johnny began as he took a seat. Ralf, behind him agreed.

"The Dragon must be defeated first, before Borg can be killed." Oliver added, this was something that Yuriy had already concluded. He looked towards Kai then, but he seemed oblivious to everything around him.

"We can't attack him head on." Yuriy began as he paced around the room. "Not with the Dragon. Is it possible to go into the castle? To be let in?"

Oliver exchanged looks with Giancarlo. "I think it may be possible. But he'll be extremely cautious."

Yuriy nodded, "Of course. It's suspicious. He'll assume I'm there."

"And you will be." Boris said. He shook his head. Frustration was beginning to creep on him, making him angry and nervous.

"Nonetheless, it's the only thing we can do." Romero voiced as he continued drinking his coffee. The taste of it no longer mattered to him.

"It'll allow you to get a grasp on the situation, if anything. You never know, you might get lucky."

Romero looked at Ralf and nodded. But it was highly unlikely.

"I don't think there's much we can plan." Yuriy told them at length. "Not with the Dragon still out. Let's leave at noon."

.

Notes: You guys are a tough crowd. Lol. In any case, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts. Lyrics at the beginning are from Nightwish's _Nemo_.

Also, Howard is not an OC, he belongs to Gundam Wing and therefore is not mine. I needed another older character and I didn't really have any more in the Beyblade universe. Akira is a character from Beyblade, many of you may remember him from first season as Andrew in the Dub. Also Scott is from Beyblade second season, you may remember him as Inspector Scott. Also Giancarlo Tornatore and Oliver Boulanger are the original Japanese names of Enrique and Oliver respectively. Stay tuned for another update tomorrow and Sunday. Take care y'all.


	10. X

**X.  
**  
_And I can't live in a fairytale of lies  
And I can't hide from the feeling cause it's right._

.

The fog slowly cleared by mid-day. But it was still cold and there was a damp breeze that came in from the ocean. The sun still shone red in their reddish sky, filtering through smoke and ash that never went away, no matter how hard the wind blew.

The day seemed extremely bleak to Julia, more so than any other day she had lived through. There was sadness in her heart that she could not quell and if she wasn't careful, she knew it would fill her eyes until they ran with tears. Emily left an hour before with Ralf and Rei, telling her that it was something that she had to do. Julia understood. Emily had always been clear in her path; she knew exactly why she had come and where she was going now.

But Julia's path had never been clear. It had always been clouded by anger and resentment, by hatred of everything and everyone, even herself. She wrapped her arms around herself, so as to not fall apart into pieces that no one would be able to put back together.

She felt a hand on her shoulder then and looked up to find Sergei looking at her, "You ready?"

She shook her head, "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Sergei smiled and nodded. "I know what you mean. There seems to be some cold finality in all of this."

Julia didn't answer. She couldn't. She felt a knot in her throat and swallowed to get rid of it.

"I suppose it will only be us five. Can't take more than this really." Romero's voice was carried to them on the breeze.

"Kai isn't coming?" she asked as they began walking north. Romero shook his head.

They followed a cobbled path that lead out of the town and up the slope of a hill. A few miles from there, Julia could see the castle, nestled safely on the ground. "I thought it was in the sky."

"It rises." Romero answered, "It rises in the night to allow the Dragon to go out."

Julia shivered at that, she distinctly remembered that roar and the chasms that it opened beneath her. She looked around her, only to find yellow grass and grey trees. She could see the ocean far into the distance and she could hear the waves crashing into the shore and at the base of the hills.

"How is that possible? Some sort of magic?" Yuriy asked him as they continued to walk. The castle, though it appeared near, he realized, was actually a ways off. It would take them a few hours to reach it.

"Yes. It appears that Borg has a powerful magician under his service." Yuriy felt his blood run cold at that. But he thought back to the princess of the northern kingdom, of Mariam with deep ocean hair and he felt his resolve strengthen. But there still lingered within him, a sliver of doubt.

The day did not improve and it remained cold and windy. The waves continued to break and crash into the cliffs. There were a few trees, all of them without leaves and spindly. The flowers on the cliffs were brown and wilted, as most things in their land usually were. The sun, continued to make its way west, amid the smoke and ash casting reddish sun rays. Julia wondered briefly how Emily's ride was going.

Romero began singing then, a traveler song to keep the mood of the group from dropping even more. He could sense their fear, their hope, and their doubts. It was heavy and once more he thought of Tao and his curse, a curse that ruined not just the land but its people as well. Romero wondered if Tao had thought at all about the generations to come.

The land was quiet. There was a deep eerie stillness in the air that made Boris nervous. It seemed as if they were entering uncharted territory, like they had crossed a portal into place no one dared enter before them. The sun continued to make its descent across the reddish sky.

"Look." Yuriy whispered, as if unwilling to break the stillness around them. Though the wind blew, nothing moved, not the tall yellow grass nor the flowers on the cliffs. To their right and further up they could see what used to be the edge of the forest, all destroyed.

"The Dragon."

The ruins of the Dragon's passing made a shiver go down their spine, crawling lightly and frosty. There in the light of their red sun they could see the flatness of the land, the bark of trees and the upturned grey soil spattered all over. As they walked nearer, they could see the tracks of this monstrous being as it ripped away the insides of the land.

Julia couldn't help her heart from sinking and the sun above them continued its descent.

"It's best if we hurry. We don't want to reach the castle at nightfall. There will be no way to get in then." They all nodded, and followed Romero as their pace increased.

"It's farther than we thought." Sergei said as the Castle finally appeared to come nearer. From their distance they could see its imposing dark grey walls, painted in a shade of reddish hue due to the sun. It was then that the earth beneath their feet shook.

"It's at least two hours before sunset." Romero told them, his voice a puzzle.

Everyone turned to look at him, confusion etched on their features along with a tint of fear. "What do you mean?" Yuriy asked.

The ground shook again, "That the Castle can't be rising into the sky."

"Then what is this? What is making the earth tremble?" Boris demanded as he began to look around, not sure as to what he would find. His hands shook, as did his body, like the trees that were around them.

It was at Sergei's choked cry that they turned and saw the Dragon. It roared as it saw them, a long cry that vibrated in their bones and the earth shook again under its weight and power. The Dragon fell on them then, an appalling force and for that moment it seemed that everything held still. It was quiet and they could see the smoke that rose from the Dragon's nostrils. It snorted in derision, and then it rose and roared with a dreadful cry that had them sinking to their knees crushed by fear and its great power. It shone with a terrible light, bright and sharp and blinding.

It cut to their hearts, pierced their skin to the bones. The power that came from it in waves was sickening, distorted. Its horns were of bone white and they glimmered in his horrible light and in that moment, in that single second Julia realized that she had seen that same light on Romero's staff. But at the edges of her memory, in the far corners of her dusty mind she saw Kai and that haunting sickening incandescent shine.

_He shines as bright and beautiful as pale fire, but its dimming. _

She felt then that there was so much that she was missing, so many truths falling through her hands like water into darkness, but the enormity of it all almost made her cry. And then she screamed as the Dragon rushed at them, its course straight for Yuriy.

Boris yelled for Yuriy to run to go into the forest.

"Run! Run!" Romero cried to him. "He must not catch you!"

Yuriy wanted to tell him that he didn't really see much point in running. The Dragon would out race him anytime any day, but he listened and turned away from them wondering how it was that the Dragon knew who he was.

The others felt the earth give way below them as they tried to move out of the way, but the flickering light of the Dragon caught them and threw them away along with the grey soil. As they stood up, staggering and covered in grey they heard the Dragon roar again.

"Come on." Romero called to them, his voice full of urgency. He set out then, running in direction of the Dragon and Yuriy.

Romero ran. He ran as fast as he could. There was only one way to save them, to save him. He could hear the other's footsteps behind him, loud and weary and afraid. He too felt his hairs stand on edge, and he fought the flight response in him. For his body wanted nothing more than to run the other way, away from the twisted distorted sacred fire that covered the Dragon's body.

.

Yuriy felt the very air of his lungs be snatched away as he flew through branches, only to crash on the root of some gnarled tree. He wanted to laugh as he saw the Dragon approach him, roaring. He winced, hearing its call, sharp and striking. It carried nothing but the sense of death, full and final. He felt the land then, weeping, the tree on which he lay sprawled began whispering to him, offering what little comfort it could in the face of such destruction.

He wondered briefly, how it was that Kai was supposed to fight this great and terrible being. How his shadows might help by slithering over this creature in an attempt to draw red rubies from it. The Dragon roared again, and rose on its hind legs before stomping back down to the ground. The earth shook, the trees cried and Yuriy was sorry. Sorry for having failed, he was sorry to his six year old self who would never get its vengeance. He closed his eyes then, as the Dragon approached and opened its mouth. Its light glimmered and burned and then he felt nothing.

.

Sergei felt his heart stop, as they reached the cleared forest, trees were on their sides with their gnarled roots high in the air. Julia besides him struggled to find her voice. They saw the Dragon roar, saw its brilliance flare with a sickening noise and then everything turned so bright that they had to shield their eyes. They could hear the trees scream in protest and then everything was silent.

An eerie quiet descended upon them and they opened their eyes to see Romero with his staff held high and the Dragon stomping its feet near something white as snow. Its nose appeared to sniff the thing before him before turning away further into the forest until they couldn't see its sickening twisted light.

"We failed." Boris whispered between them, his words carried defeat in them and a gut wrenching sadness. Julia's heart felt like it was going to fall apart. It was then that they noticed the white moving. They watched in amazement as a majestic white wolf, stood before them. He was a stark contrast to the red of the day, to the grey of the land, and the dark rotting bark of the trees. His eyes were clear as they had always been, reflecting an old sky that most of them had never seen but heard about in stories.

Romero walked forward; the wolf merely watched him with quiet equanimity before opening its mouth and speaking, "Was this truly necessary?"

"Romero, what did you do?" Julia asked as she ran towards him, to that white wolf that now turned its chilling gaze upon her.

"Yes," Romero answered as he stood near him. "It was the only way to save you. I had to change you into something the Dragon wouldn't recognize."

"Yuriy." Sergei whispered softly. There was incredulity in his voice, a certain type of despair as well.

"The Dragon will continue to hunt for the human me, though." He walked away from the tree then, away from them. He stared at his paw prints in the newly turned soil and stared in the direction the Dragon had gone. He could hear the land in a new way. He could hear its sadness, its moans of pain and longing. It left his heart with spidery cracks of grief.

"Yes. It would appear that Borg has been looking for you."

Boris and Sergei turned to Romero with shock written in their faces. The shadows of the ripped and broken forest turned darker and longer as the sun faded further into the west. The wind began again, flowing gently and coldly through their hair. They felt themselves become dry with it, and brittle.

"I thought he would know I was coming. Though not how."

"Doesn't really matter now does it," Boris began as he shifted from foot to foot. "He knows you're here." There was a deep sense of despair inside Boris as he stared at his friend, shielded in wolf form. It reminded him of the north, of the snow and the howling of the wind at night.

"We're not going to the castle anymore are we?" Julia asked softly as she stood still. She couldn't make herself go any more near the white wolf. Something inside her cracked in that moment as she saw the chasm that opened between herself and the majestic animal.

"No." Romero answered softly.

"Does this mean we have to go back?" Romero looked at Sergei and shrugged.

"No." Yuriy answered as he turned to look at them. His gaze was cool in the wind and clear so clear they could see their reflections in it. "I want to stay here, near the Castle. To see the guards in the battlements, and see how many there are. You said he doesn't have an army."

"He doesn't. If that is what you will do then I shall stay with you." Yuriy said nothing to Romero. But he did turn to the rest, "You can go back to the town if you want."

He knew Boris and Sergei would never desert him, no matter what or in what form he was in. He was extremely thankful in that moment. He felt strange, as if he was himself and not himself. He could feel the memories of his human part swirl in and out of focus and fade. It scared him but he said nothing of this to Romero.

He looked at Julia then and saw that she was looking at him with a strange expression as if trying to convince herself of something.

And so the sun finally set in the west, painting their world in red blood again, as it had done for the past years. Night came and with it a rumble and they all watched as the Castle shook at its roots and pulled itself up, rising high into the ashes and up into the sky.

The walls were dark grey, and they all noticed how it seemed like the castle was ready to fall apart. They could hear it moaning in the breeze. It shivered as if cold. The towers glistened in the moon, and Yuriy could see the guards walking along the battlements. From the highest tower there was a turret and it was from that place, Yuriy knew, that his dear cousin Mariam had thrown herself in despair.

He felt a certain hollowness grow inside him at that thought. In his eyes he could see Mariam, her deep ocean hair billowing in the wind and her dress stained scarlet from her blood, as she stood there with the ocean breeze at her back before jumping and freefalling down to the ground to lie broken among the wilted flowers.

He felt a deep despair well up in him like a spring and letting his human side go, he howled.

.

Up in the battlements the guards froze in mid stride. The wind carried Yuriy's howl to them and they felt shivers run down their spine. The wind laughed at them then, bright and mocking.

"You know, I have never seen an animal in this forest. This wolf, this howl is so surprising that I can't help but feel some sort of foreboding."

The other guard looked at him for a moment, "Mystel, the worst thing that could ever happen to us has already happened. What could be worse than where we are and what we are?"

Their armor creaked as they began moving again. They were like rusted figures up in the battlements. Their battle axes gripped tightly in their hands had left scars on their palms, marking them. It reminded them that they could not let go, that they were bound, no longer free.

When they stood on their own, they were solitary figures basked in the red glow of the setting sun, statuesque and carved as if from the castle walls. Mystel looked out into the forest, to the destruction the Dragon caused earlier that day. Borg had told them that _he_ was coming, whoever that was.

He sighed then, and his breath turned to smoke and fell away from him taking with it his dreams and hopes as it always did, every night, of freedom.

.

They remained there for a few days; Johnny came to them on the third to bring them some food. The forest around them was still in disarray and they camped in its debris. Yuriy hardly spoke, most of the time he would just sit still as a marble statue. The first night, his howl had caught them unprepared. His howl had pierced their hearts down to their very cores. It awoke in them a deep sense of sorrow, but it was one that they couldn't understand.

Yuriy was white as snow, he was not grey and Julia and Sergei marveled at this. At his resplendent white fur that glimmered like diamonds in the harsh red sun. It bounced off him in iridescent waves. They could still hear the Dragon every once in a while, roaring in rage as it struggled to find him.

Every night they would see the Castle rise high into the ash. They hardly spoke. Their voices lost and gone with what they knew lay ahead in the near future. They had been able to figure out, with Yuriy's keen gaze that there were actually only four guards. They were the ones that patrolled day and night, all wearing the same rusted armor which creaked and squeaked like little mice trying to run far far away.

It was on the sixth day when they heard the Dragon roar with a cry more terrible than they had heard before. The whole forest screeched and trembled. The Castle shivered as if with remembered memory. Their blood froze and their hands shook. Then everything went eerily silent, as if they were suspended in time, as if they were a single point in numbness. Yuriy broke it by howling and took off in direction of the town, leaving them all behind.

.

Kai sat along the edges of the cliff. The Castle lay a few miles north from him; its shadow lay in the distance. He and the rest of the town had heard the rage of the Dragon and he was simply waiting now. He stood up and walked through the yellow brown leaves of the iceplant. He turned back to the grey sea, to the greycaps that would eventually turn into waves. He knew that the grey foam had once been white and that the sea itself had been blue and not the dark grey it was now. Somewhere out there, far into the distance he wondered if it turned back to blue.

His shadows moaned in the wind and they stuck to him, clawing at him. He swallowed hard. The waves broke upon the rocks below him, spreading the grey foam over rock formations. The wind picked up again and began playing with his hair and suddenly it stopped and he felt a burning start within him. He winced. His shadows screeched in agony and rage.

"I was surprised when I picked your scent among those of the red-headed stranger."

His voice slithered up his spine and Kai shivered involuntarily, cursing himself softly for showing weakness. But he couldn't help it. His voice was still the same, still full of confidence and trust, fucking trust. He sneered at that.

"Will you not welcome and old friend?" The words mocked him; they laughed at him and ridiculed him.

Kai closed his eyes and sighed. He turned then, trying to keep his face impassive. Inside, the sad thing in his chest shuddered. He could feel a maelstrom of emotion start to take shape.

The stranger smiled at him. His smile was full and gentle. His hair was light blue with shades of grey; its bangs fell into his brown eyes. Here stood the man that came into his life one day calling himself Shippu no Jin. Here was the very person, who promised him to look after Hiromi in his absence.

It was Shippu no Jin, the Dragon in human form.

He had played on his guilt and pain of Kinomiya's death. Kai felt anger rise in him, choking him. It felt as if there was ash in his throat. He could still feel those sharp rose colored edges.

"Jin"

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Notes: Remember this is an AU, so certain characters may or may not be related to each other as they were in the show. Also, Kai always called Hitoshi, Jin in the original Japanese. Lyrics at the top belong to Within Temptation and their song _Faster._

So what do you all think? Yuriy/Tala is a wolf! And they didn't make it to the castle but that was alright, I hadn't planned it that way but after I thought about it, I realized there was no point to them going and Romero couldn't go anyways. He'd be recognized. In any case let me know your thoughts, if you're so inclined.


	11. XI

**XI.**

_Been a long road to follow  
Been there and gone tomorrow  
Without saying goodbye to yesterday_

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The Dragon smiled. "Yes, I gave you that name didn't I? Jin. But call me whatever you want Kai. Jin or even something like Hitoshi will do."

A hatred so strong rose inside Kai that he staggered. Gales began blowing in from the sea, icy cold. There was no doubt in his mind that he was tricked that night into leaving Hiromi in his hands. Until that night, he had erroneously thought that the Dragon was after him.

"You left Borg, Kai, after you pledged an oath. My orders were to find you and destroy anything connected to you, but not kill you. You wanted power Kai and power comes at a price." Jin's smile was sharp then and corrosive.

But there was no threat to his words; they were simple facts being stated with no emotion whatsoever. It unnerved him.

"We kept tabs on you. Borg wanted to destroy you and the opportunity presented itself when you met Kinomiya Takao and later Tachibana Hiromi."

Kai hated it. He hated their names coming out of his mouth. They didn't sound the same when he said it. They sounded tainted and ugly. "He cursed me." he told the Dragon at length.

Jin simply smiled. "Yes. He bound you to me. He realized you came to love your friends. For every friend that fell your fire would transfer to me and you would be chained to him in shadows. Those shadows would be a reminder. It was Gideon's idea. You remember him?"

Kai hated Jin's voice. He couldn't stand it. There was no emotion, there was nothing. It was like a void and it angered him. When he had first met him, he had been emotive. But this person standing before him was nothing like that.

Kai turned away from him to look once more at the greycaps of the sea. He knew Borg didn't want him dead. No, Borg wanted him to remember and regret ever leaving his side. Borg wanted him to crawl back on bloody knees and ask for forgiveness. Kai laughed then and Jin stared at him in confusion.

Perhaps, he thought, he would have gone back but after Kinomiya and Hiromi he couldn't. He couldn't taint their memory and the gods knew that their memory was the only thing he had left in this wretched life. He'd damn himself before he ever relinquished it.

Anger had always been his greatest weapon and now he could count on hatred. Hatred for his grandfather, for Borg and for the Dragon. "It's taken me years," he whispered his voice raspy and raw and he remembered Emily with her chains on concrete voice. He couldn't stop laughing then. Emily. He could count on her to kill Barthez and avenge the torture Hiromi must have gone through, though there was a part of him that wished he could have killed him himself.

"Darkness feeds on darkness," Kai said finally, his laughter stopping abruptly. "Gideon forgot that."

His hair and that of the Dragon's continued to flutter wildly in the gales. He smirked then at the Dragon, "and I've had years to grow my own, completely separate of these shadows."

Jin narrowed his eyes at him and at the shadows that suddenly seemed to grow and screech in delight. They twirled around Kai, elongating and growing wraith like. Others simply began crawling along the iceplants towards him.

Hitoshi stared at him for a moment, and Kai watched as the human form cracked and fell apart revealing dazzling white light. His shadows screeched but Kai held his ground against the burning sensation. That had once been his light.

The Dragon stood before him then and roared.

But Kai had no aspirations of surviving and his shadows screeched a terribly cry in response rising high above him, knitting together to form a shadow phoenix, dark and powerful. It was full of all his hatred and sorrows.

.

Romero stared at the running wolf. "So it's finally happening."

"What do you mean what's going on?" Sergei demanded.

Romero looked at them. His face was serious and grim. "The Dragon is fighting Kai. The sacred fire will always want to return to its true wielder."

"You mean that terrible sickening light?" Boris asked him confused.

Romero nodded. "Yes. That light once belonged to Kai, and through some type of curse it was transferred to the Dragon."

"Shouldn't we go then? Catch up with Yuriy?" Spencer could feel the earth tremble beneath his feet. He could hear the sickening cries of two giants facing each other. The wind had started to pick up and it was wild and grave.

"I don't know what you're waiting for wizard but I'm going." Boris told him, his hands clenched on his sides, the blood hardly flowing, they were white. He ran then in the direction of the town. Sergei followed right after.

"Shouldn't we go to?" Julia asked him nervously. But there were shadows on Romero's face, flickering across and Julia felt afraid for whatever was to come.

"Yes. Let's go."

.

Yuriy realized that the fighting wasn't taking place in the town but at the crest of the hill and right by the cliff.

There was a great black phoenix, its sharp talons embedded in the Dragon making it bleed bright red rubies. The phoenix shrieked as the Dragon swung its tail around to catch it on the breast.

Behind the two, he could see Kai standing motionless, and it was a strange sight to see him so tranquil without any sharp shadows. Yuriy realized then that the shadows that once clung to him were the great bird that was facing the Dragon.

He turned to meet Boris and Sergei. Their looks of astonishment shone on their faces. "What is it?"

Yuriy didn't answer. He couldn't. He found his human voice failing every second that passed.

The Dragon roared again as it stood to its full height, his sharp teeth nipping at the bird only to go through. "That bird isn't solid." Boris murmured.

The bird flapped its wings to have shadow feathers rain down upon the Dragon who roared in pain.

"What's happening?" Julia called as she joined them. Her breath came in puffs as she tried to calm her breathing. She stared at the bird and the Dragon. She realized that the Dragon was bleeding. Red droplets fell like rubies on the iceplants.

"Romero?" But the wizard was staring intently at the battle.

The Dragon's light shone brightly then and the shadows screeched as in pain and Kai cringed.

"The fire is distorted Kai." Romero called. "What the Dragon holds is no longer sacred." Every one turned to look at him, Kai's eyes fell on his and they met briefly.

Kai turned to look at the Dragon and at his phoenix, they both shone under the red sunlight. The sun continued to make its way west, ready to drown in a few hours. He closed his eyes and tapped into that core of his being that was overflowing with sadness and grief, with hatred and loss, with anger. All of it swirled around him, and the phoenix screeched as it flew up high into the sky.

The Dragon rose on its hind legs, trying to snatch at it before turning to Kai, its nostrils flaring. It roared before stomping its front legs. At that moment the phoenix cried. It was loud and angry, the noise flared around them. It stood in the sky for a still moment before descending sharply. The Dragon swung his tail around trying to catch it and swat it away but once more it went through.

The phoenix's talons gleamed in the red sunlight as it snatched at the Dragon before lifting it of the ground and letting it fall once more to the ground. The brilliance around it flared out, burning the iceplants surrounding it. It turned its head to the bird once more but its tail kept swinging around wildly, aiming for Kai.

All Boris and Sergei saw was a white blur that ran past them and jumped at the Dragon and scratched at its eyes. Roaring in rage and agony the Dragon shook Yuriy off. Turning fully to stare at him through a film of red the Dragon snapped at him. Yuriy moved and barely dodged the razor sharp teeth but it ran right into its right claw. The Dragon let out a snort of amusement as it smacked the white wolf away from him. With a yelp Yuriy flew, bright red droplets staining his iridescent fur and landed right at the foot of the hill, near the cobbled path that led into the town.

Kai's eyes snapped open and widened in horror. Boris and Sergei ran with Romero urgently telling them to stop. Julia sank to her knees, her hands cradling her face as she struggled to breathe. Boris and Sergei turned to Romero angrily.

"He needs help! He might be dead! Yuriy might be dead!"and at their words, Julia shook her head and both Sergei and Boris would remember long after, her piercing scream that seemed to stop time and hold them in a point of stillness.

But Kai stared at her, at the anguish in her voice, in her face, in her eyes. He knew that scream, he knew what lay at the core of such emotion. The Dragon roared again, his eyes cried tears of blood from where Yuriy had scratched them.

Kai turned to him then and focused on the fire and he felt himself burn. The phoenix rose again and cried as it flew higher and higher. It stood still then suspended high in the gales before it turned to dive with fury into the Dragon. The Dragon roared as if accepting the challenge, after all it feared nothing.

"Now, go now." Romero told them as he helped Julia stand up. Sergei nodded, realizing that if they had moved earlier the Dragon would have set its claws on them. They ran as fast as they could to the still form of the wolf.

Romero turned back to the phoenix and the Dragon. The phoenix fell faster being helped by the force of gravity, its talons outstretched. It happened then, dark and light flared and blinding light spilled forth from the collision. The Dragon roared as its blood spilled into the iceplants, acid-like. The brilliance that surrounded him began dimming, growing opaque. The phoenix fell apart in a screech around it. It turned then to look at Kai whose hands were growing brighter. Angry it cried and the whole cliff shook. It charged at him in fury. The light of his hands grew sharper and it met with the pulsing heart of the beast.

There was no emotion in Kai as he stared at the dimming light or at the blood that ran over his hands. The Dragon stared at him as he grew smaller and Kai watched as Jin stood before him again, a sword of sharp light protruding from his back.

The cliff shook again and began to crumble from the weight of the battle. The light faded and Hitoshi slumped forward and the cliff gave way as they both fell into the grey sea below. Kai smirked as he closed his eyes and the cold waters greeted him with open arms.

.

Romero stood still and watched as the cliff fell away with the two figures still standing on it. Frowning, he hesitated for a moment before he lifted his staff and the sacred fire burned brightly. He ran then to where the others were with Yuriy.

.

Julia, Boris and Sergei reached Yuriy just as the phoenix began its descent. They noticed right away that his fur was growing redder. Julia fell next to him, stroking his head. His clear blue eyes stared at her and he struggled to focus on her bright green eyes full of rivers. He wanted to speak, to apologize but his human voice was gone and so he only whined. It was soft and so weak, so damn weak that Julia bowed her head and let her tears ran freely down her face.

"Akira call Zagart!" a voice yelled from somewhere above him.

Boris turned to find Johnny and Oliver running towards them, their faces shocked and pale. "What happened?"

"The Dragon's claws."

"We need to stop the bleeding."

"Why is he still in wolf form?"

"The healer is coming."

Their sentences kept running into each other, stumbling and full of fear, just like the owners. Then there was a roar of noise and they looked up to see a blinding flare that flickered for a moment and then went out like a candle and the cliff broke apart. Pieces of rock began falling away into the grey ocean, splashing and making the water surge upwards. The gales died down to a gentle breeze that carried droplets of water inland.

"We need to move him dammit! Where the fuck is Romero!"

"My house is the nearest, we'll have to take him there."

"Hold on, please hold on."

And the rocks continued to fall, and the sun in the sky continued making its way west and began to set, giving them another day with a blood red horizon.

.

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AN: Few chapters left. Like four or so. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.


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